They are the children of privilege. They’ve been brought up in the rough and tumble world of politics where power is part of the game. Some have served long political apprenticeships and have toured dusty constituencies ever since their teens. Others have picked up impressive qualifications and built up careers before switching to the family business — politics.

They come from all ends of the country. Agatha Sangma won from Tura, Meghalaya in Northeastern India. Muhammed Hamdulla Sayeed, who at 26 is the youngest MP in Parliament, represents the Lakshadweep Islands, India’s outpost in the Arabian Sea. And Mausam B. Noor is, of course, from Malda North where her uncle Abdul Ghani Khan Chowdhury once reigned supreme.

The fact is that it’s almost impossible for a political aspirant under 30 to muscle his or her way past the other contenders and become an MP — unless they’re from a political dynasty. But coming from political families has itself been an education of sorts. Nilesh Rane, the son of Narayan Rane, for instance, says he has been criss-crossing his father’s constituency since he was 12. “The fact of the matter is that they are from political families. They are their father’s sons and daughters,” says Dipankar Gupta, professor, Social Sciences, Centre for the Study of Social Systems, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

Many of the new kids on the block have grown up in upper middle class homes — and some are from wealthy families. Most grew up in Delhi, where their parents had shifted. They are fully paid-up PLUs (people like us) and are tech-savvy youngsters who flaunt their gadgets — and answer their own cellphones. Let’s take a look at some of the youngest MPs of India:

Pic by Jagan Negi

Nilesh Rane

Age: 29 years

Son of: Narayan Rane, former Maharashtra chief minister and currently state revenue minister.

Most comfortable in: Western formal outfits.

Gadget funda: BlackBerry Curve on which he checks e-mails as they land in his inbox.

Favourite pastime: Playing cricket thrice a week.

Little known fact: His mother and younger brother shop for him. He had an arranged marriage last year.

He looks extremely youthful but has already packed in lots of experience in the world of politics and business. This first-time parliamentarian from Ratnagiri is clad in a smart shirt neatly tucked into his wrinkle-free black trousers, a sleek leather belt and black boots and looks anything but a neta in the making.

“I’m comfortable in this outfit. I rarely wear kurtas,” says Nilesh who’s quite aware that his ticket into politics has come via his powerful father. But he says: “You could say it’s because of my father who has worked hard for almost two decades in the Konkan belt.”

He’s quick to add that neither he nor his younger brother, who’s now in the Youth Congress, were spoilt by their father. “My father always made sure that we learnt from scratch,” he says. His training began at 12 when he went to his father’s constituency.

Four years ago, he even set up Mission Career Academy, a platform for informal learning classes. “I did it out of a commitment and not because I was hopeful of a ticket,” he insists.

Later he moved into the family business, Neelam Hotels (it owns properties in Goa, Sindhudurg and Mumbai). He looked after the outlet at Chembur and also spent lots of time in the kitchen working under the executive chef.

Now, he’s brushing up his Marathi and proudly says that he gave 173 speeches in 25 days during the elections.

Agenda as a politician: He reckons that his finance and business background can help change things. He’s setting up self-help groups to encourage small entrepreneurs to find a larger market.

Chillax: “I de-stress by being at home with my family. I don’t go to pubs or discos,” he says. Also, he and wife Priyanka are Yoga fanatics.

Agatha Sangma

Pic by Jagan Negi

Age: 28 years

Daughter of: P.A. Sangma, former Lok Sabha speaker and Union minister.

Most comfortable in: Jeans and T-shirts but now wears the traditional Northeastern wraparound skirt.

Gadget funda: Nokia E71. Her laptop and Sony camera are always with her.

Favourite pastime: Reading and watching movies.

Little known fact: Loves taking a walk in the city at night when it’s going to sleep.

She’s petite and her face bears no trace of make-up. The bespectacled Agatha is youthful but has a business-like air about her. Hopefully, her training in the legal world will also help her juggle the demands of being a minister (she’s the junior minister in the Rural Development Ministry) and managing a constituency.

Agatha’s political journey began last year after her father resigned from the Parliament. She was then working as a junior associate at FoxMandal and she had to make a quick decision about switching careers. “They needed an NCP candidate. Many people suggested my name,” says Agatha who was pitched against her own cousin and won by a huge margin.

All her student life, Agatha says she was careful not to misuse her father’s name. She got admission in a Bangalore law school through the reserved quota but didn’t want to take that. Instead, she applied to a law school in Pune and got through.

She insists that she has always lived a normal life travelling in autos with fellow students. “We pooled in money with friends for our auto fare,” she says.

Agatha says she and her three siblings had a normal upbringing. And if there is something she has learnt from her father, it’s “to be humble no matter what life gives you.” “And be positive,” she says.

She did a Masters in environment management in London and she’s eager to bring innovative ideas about sustainable development to her ministry. “I think environment plays an important role in rural development,” she says.

Agenda as a politician: “In my ministry, there’s room for innovation. You can think out-of-the-box.”

Chillax: Loves to spend time by herself. In winters she walks in Delhi’s Lodhi Gardens.

Mausam B. Noor

Pic by Jagan Negi

Age: 29 years

Daughter of: Late Rubi Noor and niece of Abdul Ghani Khan Chaudhury.

Most comfortable in: Indian formal ensembles.

Gadget funda: Nokia N73, Nikon 300d camera

Favourite pastime: Trekking and visiting wildlife sanctuaries.

Little known fact: Loves to shop for herself but isn’t very picky about what she wears.

Mausam Noor hadn’t planned to make such an early debut in politics. She was working in legal firm, FoxMandal (a favourite for several of these young well-connected politicos) when her mother’s sudden death turned her world topsy-turvy. She was quickly recruited to fill her mother’s seat in the Bengal legislature. But when the elections came around she felt it would be better to move to the Parliament.

Mausam’s a family person — even though there were disagreements about her standing for election. She’s closest to her two elder sisters and this is obvious when you see them together at New Delhi’s Banga Bhavan.

“She always had it in her to be in politics. She was groomed by our late mother who was groomed by our uncle,” says Sonia, Mausam’s eldest sister who’s a surgeon in the US. Mausam is soft-spoken and rarely smiles. Adds Mausam’s other sister, Syeda, who looks after the family’s real estate business: “She is tough but in a gentle manner.”

The newbie in politics is careful about what she says. “My first priority is to set my constituency right and provide basic amenities.”

Also, she’s using her legal background to help her constituents. “I am setting up a legal aid cell for women,” says Mausam, who studied in La Martiniere and later moved to Delhi.

Life changed when she was elected to Parliament by a margin of 60,541 votes. She says she now has a “big responsibility,” and less time for pursuits she loved — visiting wildlife sanctuaries and trekking. In recent months her Nikon has been gathering dust at home in Calcutta. She says ruefully:

“Sometimes I wished I could go back to those days.”

Agenda as a politician: Looking for ways to improve the infrastructure in her constituency.

Chillax: Spending time with her elder sister or going for a movie or dinner.

Shruti Choudhary

Pic by Jagan Negi

Age: 33 years

Daughter of: Kiran Choudhary, Haryana tourism minister and granddaughter of former Haryana chief minister Bansi Lal.

Most comfortable in: Western and Indian formal outfits.

Gadget funda: Nokia E71.

Favourite pastime: Reading and rickshaw rides into the bylanes of Chandni Chowk.

Little known fact: A trained classical vocalist.

At her mother’s palatial home in Delhi’s upscale Sunder Nagar, Shruti Choudhary has set up a temporary office. Her political lineage is on full display — a huge photo of her with her mother and another with her grandfather. In one eye-catching picture she’s wearing a turban. “After my father passed away, my grandfather said I was like the son of the family and the turban was passed on to me,” she says.

She’s an only child and spent most of her childhood in Delhi where she studied at the Convent of Jesus & Mary and DPS, RK Puram. She later studied law and joined FoxMandal. “Ever since I was 15 or 16, I was always involved in politics,” she says. She earned her spurs by campaigning extensively for her father. “We would divide the constituency into two and I would cover one part of it,” she says.

The big turning point came when her father died in 2005. “I was practising law then. And I had intended to make a documentary film,” says Shruti. Her husband, who’s from Assam and who also works at FoxMandal, pitched in to help her campaigning.

Agenda as a politician: She’s keen to impart technical knowledge to young people. “There’s a need to create a society where women are respected. I want to create opportunities for the girl child particularly in my constituency,” she says.

Chillax: Driving her Maruti Swift and listening to her collection of classical music. Or, just being with her husband.

Muhammed Hamdulla Sayeed

Pic by Rupinder Sharma

Age: 26 years

Son of: P.M. Sayeed, a senior Congress leader from Lakshadweep.

Most comfortable in: Western and Indian formal clothes.

Gadget funda: Nokia N95.

Favourite pastime: Reading, surfing the Internet.

Little known fact: Played soccer in school and was a regular tennis player at Delhi’s YMCA.

You can’t miss the Mont Blanc sticking out from his shirt pocket. But when Sayeed spots you looking at it, he’s quick to tell you that it belonged to his late father. “I keep it only for sentimental reasons. My father had a large collection of pens,” he says.

He’s also quick to remind you that he’s carrying on the family tradition by being the youngest Parliamentarian. His father became an MP at 25 in 1971.

Sayeed insists he will prove his worth. “It gives you a kick to be somebody’s son but one must be efficient enough to fulfil one’s duties,” he says.

Like all the other young guns, he regularly accompanied his father to his constituency. “People wanted me to step into my father’s shoes and represent them,” he says.

Sayeed worked in FoxMandal for a year and had actually planned to go overseas for a post graduate degree in law. He’s from a big family and four of his elder sisters are doctors.

Sayeed is the youngest and the most pampered in the family. “But I’m not spoilt,” he insists. This time he squeaked through, defeating his nearest rival by slightly over 2,000 votes. “It’s a challenge to represent the constituency because you cannot antagonise anyone. You have to appease each and every voter,” he says.

Agenda as a politician: “Lakshadweep is a cluster of 36 islands and only 10 are inhabited. My desire is to promote tourism in a big way,” he says.

He’d like to improve connectivity between the mainland and Lakshadweep. Aggati is currently the only island with an airstrip. “It will be a priority to see if other islands can also be connected,” he says.

Chillax: Go to a secluded island in Lakshadweep with close friends and fish and picnic. “You feel completely rejuvenated,” he says.