Jul. 5, 2009 (The Hindu Business Line) --
A man of many roles.
Sarikah Atreya
Divya Trivedi
Perhaps P. D. Rai, an alumnus of IIT-Kanpur (1976) and IIM-Ahmedabad (1978), and an Eisenhower Fellow USA (2000), is one of the few people who, having graduated from these elite institutions, has decided to take up politics as a full-time profession. After straddling several managerial and entrepreneurial ventures, he is today the sole voice of Sikkim in the Lok Sabha. His party, the Sikkim Democratic Front, is the ruling party in the State having won with a clear majority under the leadership of Pawan Chamling.
On Rai’s agenda are several issues relating to the tribal State such as seeking seats for the Limboo-Tamang communities, inclusion of the Bhutia and Lepcha languages in the Eighth schedule and political demands such as IT exemptions for business communities, a fair share of development aid for the State and involvement in the 13th Finance Commission.
Rai says that the training he received at his alma maters have stood him in good stead. “My training at IIT and IIM, the MBA and engineering degrees, came in very handy,” he says.
‘A fun-loving, nice guy’
His batchmates at IIM-A remember him as a fun-loving, nice guy. “He did not show any inclination towards politics at that time, though his interpersonal skills were excellent. He was an extremely fun-loving person and used to play all sorts of sports,” says Prof Samir Barua, Director, IIM-A, who studied for a year with Rai.
Prof G. Raghuram, also of IIM-A, his batchmate of two years, remembers him as a happy-go-lucky person who had a good sense of humour and a great work-life balance. The two of them along with a couple of friends once embarked on a three-day cycle trip through Ubhrat near Maroli, Baroda, Kabirvada near Bharuch and Hajira from where they took a train to Mumbai.
When Rai won the elections, one of these friends sent him an open e-mail, saying, “I know many MPs, but now I have one, who knows me.”
After passing out of IIM-A, Rai took up a job with Bank of America (NYSE:BAC) in Kolkata. One of the reasons he decided to leave the cushy job and return to Sikkim was the then first Governor of Sikkim, B.B. Lall.
Lall, perhaps, saw in the man great potential and wondered why he could not work for the State. “He went out of his way to kind of mentor me and called me and spoke to L.D. Kazi, Sikkim’s first Chief Minister, that this guy needs to be given a proper job in the State. In fact, Lall even defined the job I would be given — that of Project Manager in the Sikkim Flour Mills that was being set up at that time. The rest, as they say, is history,” reminisces Rai.
He worked for the Sikkim government for six years from 1979.
