Akhilesh popular among youth, says youngster who interned with CM
According to 17-yearold Sumer YP Singh, who is about to complete his second one-week internship with chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday, the CM has the image of a pleasing and popular personality among people aged 18-24 years.
“The chief minister has a certain dynamism and appeal with voters, especially among the youth. It is due to his charm and also his development oriented messages, which are unmatched by any other contender for the position of the chief minister in 2017. If the election is fought solely on the basis of personalities and leadership, I can say with great confidence that he will come back to power,” said Sumer.
The youngster accompanied the CM during his visit to Muzaffarnagar, Moradabad and Gorakhpur last week and researched his popularity among the youth. “I accompanied the chief minister on his July 19 visit to Muzaffarnagar, which saw communal tension in 2013 and 2015. A large number of youngsters had turned up to greet him despite the communal divide. The way people patiently heard him, I got a feeling that his personal image has not taken any beating because of the riots,” he added.
The young intern also has some recommendations for the CM. He feels that the new generation of Samajwadi Party should be acquainted with the philosophy and ideology of their party. He also suggests grooming workshops and public speaking sessions for the potential leaders from the party’s youth wing.
Sumer came to these conclusions after attending two meetings – one of the Lohia vahini and youth brigade on July 18 and the other of Chhatra Sabha and yuvjan sabha on July 21. “They are extremely dedicated to party leaders and committed workers but they need to be told about SP’s ideology and values to avoid any disconnect,” he said.
In his report, Sumer will also recommend a grievance redressal system within the party like the one that exists in the state government. He said he had many more recommendations in mind, which he would share after submitting his report to the CM.
The youngster said that SP’s biggest challenge was to have its cadre educate people about the development work and welfare schemes implemented by the government in the last 4-5 years. “People are benefitting from many of these like the pension scheme, the poshan scheme, etc. but they do not understand that this was done by the SP government,” he explained.
This was Agra lad’s second internship with the CM. He completed his first internship in April 2015. A pass out of Delhi Public School, Agra, currently, Sumer is pursuing a course from Harrow School of London. He aims at enrolling in Oxford University for higher studies.
“I’m here to understand how politics functions. I’m applying for a course in philosophy, politics and economics at Oxford University,” said the youngster, whose last internship was targeted at understanding governance.