CIA The World Factbook

Welcome to another edition of THE LEADERS. I am Yuli Ismartono from AsiaViews, here in New Delhi, India--an emerging power house in Asia-- for an exchange of views with a number of prominent leaders.

Today we will meet Mr. Omar Abdullah, a member of the Lok Sabha--the Indian lower House in parliament. Mr. Abdullah represents the Srinagar constituency of Jammu and Kashmir province in northern India. He represents modern India, energetic, articulate and a strong nationalist.

Mr. Abdullah, thank you for taking time off from your busy schedule to chat with us.

Yuli Ismartono: Let me ask you about your background first. You come from a long line of politicians dedicated to public life. Has this become a family tradition?

Omar Abdullah: Well, I am the third generation. So to that extent, I suppose you could call it a family tradition. Except that fortunately for us, we have existed in a democratic set-up and therefore, even if I am the third generation, it's purely because we've been able to get ourselves elected by the people. I am the third generation of my family in parliament, as well as the third generation of my family in politics. I keep saying that belonging to a particular family only opens the door for you. How you step through that door, and how you keep the door open depends on how you work. Therefore, I never ever take the electorate or your voter for granted. Because the moment you do that, it will probably the last time you will ever get elected.

YI: Critics say it is your privileged background which makes it easy for you to attain high office. So how do you get your constituency in Kashmir to vote for you?

Abdullah: Well, the first time I got elected was purely on the basis of my surname. There's no getting around that fact. But, as I said, it's only in your first election where that really helps. After that you're a known commodity. People know who you are, where you come from, what work you've done or not done. Then it becomes your record in terms of delivering on some of the promises you've made during the election campaign. That's what is used to judge you when the time comes to vote. A privileged background works both ways. While it opens doors, it also raises expectations that much higher. The media scrutiny is that much more. I came into parliament at a time when my party was also the party in power in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. And that raises its own expectations, because my father was chief minister there therefore people expected to get a lot more for the constituency than they would have expected from perhaps another first-timer member of parliament from the opposition. So, balancing the advantages that you get from the sort of background that I have with the disadvantages, is also a bit of a struggle.