In his university days, a purposeful young man scurried across the football field as an illustrious midfielder. Creating chances for his team mates, Surajj M. N. Hegde was unstoppable as a footie juggernaut. Leaning toward leadership, he took this skill to the college office as BMS president.

Now, after 18 years of sacrifice and a vision, the ever-smiling politico, whose work identifying young rural leaders to change the life of the ordinary Indian has slowly borne fruit, is on a high.
His appointment as AICC secretary under Rahul Gandhi came on a day when he was having a rare breather with his family. His younger son Vishruth yelped, “Your name is on TV!” And the humble and hardworking guy was astounded. “It was a shock. I thought they might be giving me some position, but not to such an extent. It’s unimaginable, I never even dreamt of this, God has been kind,” says Surajj Hegde.
It’s been a tough trial by fire for this Bengaluru man who is the grandson of the former chief minister Devraj Urs. He has been quietly working in the youth wing since 2002. “I travelled 14 states for six years. I am grateful to my family for being there, my wife, sister, brother, my children. My goings and comings were frequent and suddenly my elder son Samrudh has grown taller than me,” he says.
Since he entered the arena in 2002 as the Youth Congress state general secretary, he’s been busy, “Living in rural India, I’ve realised how fabulous this country is — every 60 kilometres, the language, food, dialect and culture changes. Yet, with all this diversity, we are still one,” he adds.
Slowly and tirelessly, his strength of character has emerged. He attributes his recognition to MP Manik Tagore from Virudhnagar who had earlier defeated Vaiko. And after years of travelling off the beaten track, working at the grassroot level, it was Rahul Gandhi’s new plans that brought Hegde to the fore. “When Rahul Gandhi took charge, he formed a committee of youngsters to explore what the youth want. The core aim — anybody who wants to join politics should be given an open platform.” The four youngsters to design the election process were Chandrakant Dubey, Rohit Chaudhary, Ibrahim Kutty Kallar and Surajj Hegde, which was later put in front of the Vistar committee.
Now working under the Congress scion Rahul Gandhi, he is calm and purposeful. “I have met Rahul Gandhi five to six times. Now, I will be reporting directly to him,” he says. Of the man himself, he explains, “He is unassuming and focused, thinks in the long term and knows what he wants. I admire the fact that he does not get perturbed by the images being built around him. He also lost his father (like me) and grandmother early, and has seen many ups and downs. He is a third time MP, so he is not new to this, and is extremely hardworking. He does what he feels is right in a very quiet way. Noble and honourable, he is not a power-monger; if he wanted to be PM, it would have been just a snap of the fingers.”
Having seen tough times as a child, he has taken strength from adversity. “I lost my father when I was 14 and my mother when I was nine. It was Rani Aunty and Nagaraj Uncle who brought us up. All of us have struggled and come up the hard way,” says the father of two. The gentle smile that has become his trademark and his strong demeanour apart, he chuckles when asked about his “love marriage”. “Shilpa has been very supportive. I met her at Math tuition. Initially, we had to convince the families, now everybody’s happy. She is an MA graduate and a dancer, and teaches Bharatanatyam and choreography to children,” he says.
His two sons Samrudh and Vishruth are also taking lessons from their enterprising dad. “Samrudh is representing his school at the United Nations for the MUN (Model United Nations) activity. He will be debating. And Vishruth is adept at Taekwondo. He won an international event in Delhi sometime ago.”
His sister Suhasini is an architect, and brother Sudevraj is a lawyer, and while he has been the guiding force for the family, he brushes it aside with his signature humility.
Surajj sees an India which sadly city folk do not. He believes that working together can change that, “When I was in charge of Himachal Pradesh, people would climb for three days to reach their homes, they were so hospitable, though living in a tough terrain. In Punjab, the treatment in any pind is better than a star hotel. In Maharashtra, the food culture and financial discipline is commendable. The innovativeness of Tamil Nadu — in music and culture, retaining heritage is laudable. Madhya Pradesh’s Ellora is better than the seven wonders of the world.” It does seem like an ode to India, but what of the disgruntled youth? “In young India, there is no political activism, because there are hardly any college elections. Priorities have changed, everybody wants to go abroad. The political activist and leadership qualities have started to diminish. So when there is a vacuum, somebody else will come and sit in their place. That has to change.”
Not one to rest on his laurels, this power weightlifter and boxer in his heyday is taking to lifting the rural youth. But on the off chance that he gets time in his relentless schedule, he is an avid reader, “Reading is a passion. I love Sudoku too. You should read Gideon’s Spies about the Mossad. I like reading practical books. Kautilya’s Arthashastra is my all-time favourite. It can be used in life’s experiences,” concludes this thinking man.