A triumphant Milind Deora in Mumbai on Thursday. (AFP)

Mumbai, May 14: From a Boston-educated MBA graduate to a Mumbai South Congress MP, it has been a relatively quiet and smooth transition for Milind Deora.

When he enters the House in the next few days, another feather will be added to his cap. At 27, Milind will be India’s youngest parliamentarian.

Congress leader Murli Deora’s son, who used to play the guitar at some of the city’s hot spots before plunging into politics, is set to join the other young guns in Parliament — Rahul Gandhi, Sachin Pilot, Dushyant Singh, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Akhilesh Singh — and is raring to go.

“The trouble is that people have stopped dreaming big,’’ Milind had said when he began campaigning. And he knows the time has come for him to translate dreams into reality.

“Dedication and commitment is the key,” he says. “In a country like ours, there is always a lot of work to be done but then there is always the possibility that it can be done.”

Milind engineered one of the biggest upsets for the BJP-Shiv Sena combine when he defeated the battle-hardened Jaywantiben Mehta by 10,246 votes. Very few had given him a chance against Mehta, well known in Mumbai as Bhuleshwar ki Bhavani, saying the filly’s fight against the warhorse would end in a whimper.

There was too much going for Mehta — she was 65, he was only 27; she had the common man appeal with her cotton saris and chappals, whereas he was burdened by his upper class upbringing and clipped English.

Contest watchers in Mumbai South had sniggered when Milind promised that with the right effort Mumbai could turn into Shanghai. But slowly, as the battle progressed, the cynicism wore off.

“I know how things started and what people said,” says Milind. “But it is important to keep the faith.”

With his father — who has made a point or two to his opponents in the Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee — by his side, Milind has his eyes set on his mission. “There is so little time to bask in glory. Work will have to start soon.”

He has already put his priorities in place. “Mumbai has to get more than what it contributes,” he says. “The city contributes Rs 50,000 crore as taxes and gets only Rs 500 crore in return. Moreover, the inflow of aid to Mumbai has also decreased drastically in the last few years.”

Pausing a while, he continues: “We have to work for the youth. After all, 48 per cent of the voters in this constituency are under the age of 35. There is a sense of despondency with so much of unemployment. I would like nothing more than generate employment for the youth. We have already begun computer education classes in nearby schools. We will have to expand the programme and bring more schools under the purview. That, for one, will certainly generate more jobs.”

Earlier, using his favourite business school jargon, Milind had spoken about the importance of clearing the mind’s cobwebs and think without any baggage from the past. The youngest parliamentarian might have just got the broom to get the job done.