At 85 to 67, Rahul Gandhi has a 'young’ team

Jun 17, 2013

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New Delhi: Congress party 'communication' got off on a rather tottering note on Monday when the party’s new spokesperson Ajay Maken waxed eloquent on how Rahul Gandhi’s new team was young and raring to go.
But when presspersons pointed out that the average age of the new Cabinet ministers was 75 plus with Sisram Ola, the Jat leader from Rajasthan, at 85, Maken was at loss of words.
Ola, incidentally, is elder to BJP’s L K Advani, who is often criticised by the Congress for his age. Even Rahul Gandhi had raised the age issue of Advani and that of former Kerala Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan. The latter went on to call Rahul an 'Amul Baby' during the last elections.
Others who are old are Oscar Fernandes who is 72 and Kavuri Sambasiva Rao 70. Girija Vyas is the youngest at 67.
One of the youngsters who did not find a place in the reshuffle was Meenakshi who is part of Rahul Gandhi’s 'think tank'.
Analysts say that the Congress has rewarded loyalty with an eye over 2014 polls. Ola, for example, has considerable sway over the Jat community. Similarly, Manikrao Gavit, who represents Nandurbar in Maharashtra, has a following in the tribal belt.

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