‘Ask questions, seek accountability, share success’: Sachin Pilot
Speaker Series at Vista 2016 has the young politician at his eloquent best
23 September, 2016: His choice of topic – Young India’s role in politics and nation building – may have collapsed into cliché but Sachin Pilot, exuding sharp wit and a sense of urgency, nailed it as he exhorted his audience, comprising mainly students, to ask questions, participate in public policy and share the fruits of success even as they chased their dreams across conference rooms and countries.
“Go after economic opportunity but create social equity and create an ecosystem of growth for everyone,” urged the former minister of Corporate Affairs and current president of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee, speaking at Vista 2016, the annual business fest organized by the FII Club at IIM Bangalore.
“In India, politics dominates our living rooms, dining rooms and classrooms but what we truly need is participation. India’s political landscape needs freshness, creativity and imagination that only you can bring,” Pilot said.
Striving to reiterate that dissent, debate and discussion – not acrimony or abuse -- are the cornerstones of a democracy, he pointed out the virtues of developing, what he called, political large-heartedness. “Just because we belong to different political parties, it does not mean we are enemies. We must learn to work together because there is much to be done.”
Stating that the fulcrum of innovation and investment was here in Asia, especially in India, he observed that it was certainly an advantage for the young to live, learn and work in such interesting times.
In the Q&A that followed, Pilot tackled questions ranging from politics as a viable career option for the young Indian to the need for reservations.
In an interesting aside, he confessed this was his first visit to “any IIM in the country” and that IIM Bangalore, green and serene, had charmed him. “I don’t often get the opportunity to interact with students, so this visit and this meeting with young bright minds is really special,” he added.