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GAURAV VALLABH
- Born to a family of academicians, Vallabh is the first one in his family to join politics. He was roped in as one of the Grand Old Party’s 10 fresh spokespersons only in January.
- Though he was little known among the party’s top brass, his recent showdown caught the attention of party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
GOURAV VALLABH
- The 42-year-old was a professor of finance at Jamshedpur’s XLRI Management Institute. An academician, he has a doctorate in credit risk assessment.
- That apart, he has penned several books and has been associated with banks too in the past.
GOURAV VALLABH
- The mantra he follows when he has to make an appearance at any television show. If the show runs for an hour, he spends six hours on research while preparing for it.
- It is with the ease of knowledge that Vallabh cornered the BJP’s spokesperson Sambit Patra on a TV debate on the state of the Indian economy, asking him if he knew how many zeros are in 5 trillion. Patra’s tries at averting the question have landed a lot of views for the video, now viral by all standards, and accolades for Vallabh.
GOURAV VALLABH
- He knew that he always wanted to be in politics to stand up for his ideological beliefs. But did not have the immediate resources to do so. He then worked on establishing himself, and in 2017, joined the Congress.
- He was soon recruited as a media panellist by the party’s communications chief Randeep Singh Surjewala and started representing the party on TV debates and holding press conferences, mostly on weekends, in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections.
- Vallabh says he did not join the party in search of any position or power.
GOURAV VALLABH
- There was a strong ideological alignment about free, liberal, secular and intelligent values of our country, where reasoning, science, logic and development is a priority agenda,” he says.