-The Indian Express
They had come to impart lessons on governance, but Nandan Nilekani and Ashis Nandy were forced to end their speeches abruptly at a Youth Congress convention here by impatient cadres who were more keen to listen to Rahul Gandhi.
Nandy, renowned political psychologist, and Nilekani, Chairman of the new Unique Identification Authority of India, were the two non-political speakers invited to the convention to share their experiences in governance with the delegates.
Over 8,000 democratically-elected Youth Congress office bearers from across the country were present at the convention which was addressed by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress President Sonia Gandhi.
Nandy, who was the first non-political speaker to come on the dais, spoke for almost 10 minutes and the delegates, who were restless to hear Rahul, kept clapping throughout his address.
Unfazed, he continued with his speech saying that he would end it in the next few minutes, but in vain.
As he went back to his seat, the workers thought Rahul Gandhi would address them, but it was Nilekani’s turn at the microphone.
Disappointed, the cadres resumed clapping and shouting slogans praising Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, disrupting Nilekani’s speech.
As the noise grew louder, Nilekani said he got the signal from the crowd that he has to end his speech because "all are waiting for the next speaker" and that he would complete his address in the next two minutes.
But, when there was no let up in the noise, he ended his speech abruptly.