Challenges Facing Electoral Democracy in India: A Politician's View

CASI Seminar

CASI December 2016 Distinguished International Fellow

Sachin Pilot
Former Cabinet Minister, Government of India
Penn Law (The Fitts Auditorium)
3501 Sansom Street
Philadelphia, PA 19104




About the Speaker:
Sachin Pilot is President of the Rajasthan Pradesh Congress Committee. In 2004, he became the youngest MP elected to the 14th Lok Sabha from the Dausa Parliamentary Constituency of Rajasthan. He has served as a Member of the Parliament’s Standing Committee on Home Affairs, Consultative Committee in the Ministry of Civil Aviation, and Budget Estimates Committee of Parliament. In May 2009, he was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from the Ajmer Parliamentary Constituency of Rajasthan and became Minister of State (MoS) in the Ministry of Communication & Information Technology. In 2012, he became Minister of the State (Independent charge) of Ministry of Corporate Affairs.

Mr. Pilot was selected as one of the Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum in 2008.  While serving as a Minister in the cabinet, he became a commissioned officer in the rank of Lieutenant in the Territorial Army, the first ever and the only minister to do so. Mr. Pilot earned a B.A. in English Literature from St. Stephen’s College (University of Delhi) and an M.B.A. from Penn’s Wharton Business School.

[Event Flyer]

The Nand & Jeet Khemka Distinguished Lecture Series is an endowed public program of the Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI). Launched in the 2007-08 academic year, and made possible through the generous support of the Nand & Jeet Khemka Foundation, the series brings renowned India specialists to the Penn community and serves as a critical forum for analyzing and understanding the complex economic, political, social, and cultural changes that the world’s largest democracy is experiencing, as well as the challenges that lie ahead.
The Saluja Global Fellows Program has been made possible by the generous gift from Vishal Saluja ENG’89 W’89. CASI was excited to launch the program during the 2022–23 academic year, coinciding with the Center’s 30th Anniversary. This new program enables CASI to invite eminent leaders and rising experts on contemporary India preferably from the fields of media, culture, law, and contemporary history to be in residence for one to two weeks at CASI.