Asian Window

At 28 years old, Agatha Sangma was the youngest member in India’s parliament when she was elected last year from the Tura constituency in Meghalaya in India’s Northeast. This year, she was re-elected and named minister of state for rural development in the new Congress-led coalition government. Ms. Sangma has studied environmental management in the U.K. and worked as a lawyer in Delhi before joining politics. She spoke with Jyoti Malhotra for The Wall Street Journal:

WSJ: I believe your parents named your and your sister Christie after the novelist Agatha Christie because they liked her novels.

A.S.: Yes, that’s right, my father named us because he’s very fond of Agatha Christie, so both his daughters ended up having the names Agatha and Christie.

WSJ: So you’ve led a life of romance and adventure ever since?

A.S.: Thriller, yes! No, just kidding…I personally I haven’t read an Agatha Christie novel…it always happens to me, when I hear too much of something I get (put) off by it.

WSJ: You’re the youngest member of Parliament and now you’re the youngest minister in Manmohan Singh’s council of ministers. How do you feel about that?

A.S.: It’s an overwhelming feeling, as if there’s a huge responsibility I have to fulfill. A lot of people are looking at what I’m doing and hoping I will do something good. For instance women, people from the Northeast and the younger generation.

WSJ: A lot of colleagues in your ministry are possibly your father’s age. Do you feel they patronize you and look at you as someone their daughter’s age?

A.S.: Mostly I’ve received very good responses from people who are far more experienced and wiser than me in politics and administration. I have a lot to learn from them and have never felt they’re trying to intimidate me or set any kind of rules for me. Everybody is quite happy and quite welcoming. I think all of us have our own roles to play and will be able to make a difference in our own (ways). So there’s really nothing to worry about. More:

Similar Posts:

• Advani: No burning desire to be PM
• Infosys founder on India’s political scene, the Satyam episode, and his hew book
• In India, politics is good business
• Here’s a Clue: Mr. Kumar, with a gun, in India
• The idea of indignation