Young entrepreneur in the election fray

A typical case of rags to riches story, an IIM-A graduate and a successful entrepreneur has taken a plunge into politics by contesting the Lok Sabha polls, with an aim to clear the "silt" of it.

Sarath Babu, the proprietor of Food King that has business spread over four states, is an independent candidate from the elite South Chennai constituency and has a vision for his country -- 'a hunger-free India by another 20 years' where 'unemployment will be non-existent'.

As his campaign managers scamper through the electioneering schedule, Babu, MTV's Youth Icon 2008, says that he envisaged making South Chennai a model constituency. "Instead of remaining an outsider to politics I decided to step into it and clean it of the silt.. Someone has to bell the cat. So I decided to contest the elections," Says Babu.

Now an inspiring force to many aspiring entrepreneurs, Babu rose from a humble beginning selling 'idlis' before getting into the prestigious management school in Ahmedabad and launching his dream company Food King with a small investment of Rs 2,000 in 2006. With his "committed team" taking care of the company as of now, Babu says he was devoting most of his time to campaigning, claiming he covered nearly 100 temples in the constituency on Tuesday.

He is undeterred by the fact that two political heavyweights-- R S Barathy of DMK, also a local man, and BJP state president L Ganesan are trying their fortunes from the constituency, -- as he counts on "the positive response" during campaigning.

Backed by a young team of volunteers, the entrepreneur is pinning his hopes on young voters and is using all means, including the virtual world, to reach out to them. While Babu has a dedicated website, his campaign managers constantly update the profiles in his blogs and keep him networked on sites such as the Orkut.