When Raj Shroff falls off a horse, he prays he hits the ground right. If you survive the fall, as Shroff has done in nearly two decades of polo playing, you can count the broken arms, shins and legs. You can say that Shroff, 33, the Congress' face in the prestigious Malabar Hill assembly constituency, is ready for the rough and tumble of politics. And he has chosen to make his debut from the toniest assembly segment in the country, where a boxy sea-view flat costs as much as a hacienda with a private beach at Dubai's Palm Island. Shroff, who opted for politics three years ago instead of running the family-owned Charak Pharmaceuticals, is widely seen as the dark horse in the contest against the BJP's two-time MLA Mangal Prabhat Lodha.

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FAMILY CONNECTION: Shroff, 33, Shinde's son-in-law, moved away from his family-owned business to join politics. Total assets: Rs 8.44 crore.	SIGNING UP: A sari designer, Shaina, 31, is ready for a tough fight in Bandra. Total assets: Rs 2.75 crore.

That he is also Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde's son-in-law has attracted charges of favouritism. "If that were the case," says Shroff, "I would have got a safer seat." Shroff, who is worth nearly Rs 9 crore and drives a silver Land Cruiser, wants to take computer literacy to the slumdwellers and get the corporates to spruce up the metropolis. "Mumbai is going to be among the best in the world in the next five years," he says.

Shroff is among the new tribe of politicians in the fray for the Maharashtra Assembly polls that includes a nightclub owner, a fashion designer, a teacher and a lawyer. They are set to prove their mettle against the shining stars with their designer dreams and Page Three presence. Extremely approachable and media savvy, with or without familial political affiliations, these young hopefuls talk about making an effective change.

A curious first-timer is Ketan Kadam, who gave Mumbai its well-known hotspot-Fire & Ice. Nightclub owner and restaurateur are identities seldom associated with a political entrant, but Kadam is nonchalant. In jeans and a casual T-shirt he is hardly the "junta ka neta", but this 28-year-old hotel management diploma holder has the Samajwadi Party (SP) backing his entry into politics and is pitted against Shiv Sena's Arvind Nerkar in Opera House constituency. The SP was an obvious choice because Kadam believes that its influence is expanding and the party offers him a better chance of political growth.

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ULTIMATE PARTY MAN: Kadam, 28, owns a nightclub in Mumbai. Total assets: Rs 26 lakh.	ZEAL: Gaikwad, 29, has politics in her blood. Assets: Rs 1.24 lakh.

Elsewhere in Bandra, fashion designer Shaina N.C. is perfectly turned out at 7 a.m., sharing idlis, dosas and woes with the members of the Laughter Club at Jogger's Park, Bandra. "Tame Bohri chho (Are you Bohri?)," she slips into familiar Gujarati with a lady, while an "uncle" makes enquiries about her educational qualifications. "I have a degree in political science with a double degree in fashion designing," says the BJP candidate, charming the hordes and interacting effortlessly. Shaina, 31, has designs on Bandra and is ready for a tough fight in the Bandra assembly constituency. Her adversary is the formidable Congressman Baba Siddiqui. Shaina's day begins at 6 a.m., a time when most fashion designers are just about to hit the bed. Her "door-to-door" campaign is "an effort to meet as many people as possible". And on top of Shaina's agenda "is containing Bandra's infrastructure which is going to burst if something isn't done pretty soon". And her USP? "I am a young, dynamic, honest and totally transparent and accountable," she says, shrugging off all insinuations of her being the BJP's latest glam girl.

No one can blame Varsha Gaikwad for being the Congress' glam quotient. The 29-year-old, currently principal-in-charge at Rajashri Shahu College and pursuing a PhD in Numerical Method, picks up the phone herself and doesn't move around with a coterie but speaks vociferously about the development of Dharavi. She comes across as a seasoned politician-she has been campaigning for father Eknath Gaikwad, the Congress MP from Mumbai North Central Lok Sabha seat, since 1985-effortlessly dropping lines like "Dharavi is in my heart" and "Dharavi is a mini India". The Gaikwad daughter is now ready to emerge from her father's shadow and is hopeful of winning from Dharavi, where her father enjoys tremendous political clout. She is unfazed by Sena candidate Snehal Jadhav. "This is not a battle between two people but a contest between two parties and two ideologies."

Twenty-seven-year-old lawyer Rahul Narvekar, who is contesting the polls from Colaba, is a typical south Mumbai type. A graduate of Sydenham College with a law degree from the Government Law College, the Shiv Sena candidate loves to party and takes a speed boat to Alibaug every weekend to the family-owned Sai Inn Resort. He loves "interacting with people, networking and cricket" in that order. Narvekar admits that he was earlier reluctant to join politics. "We discuss politics over drinks and criticise our leaders. But unless we offer ourselves to the profession we will always have tainted ministers at the helm. I am here to make a change," he says, ready for a confrontation with Congress candidate Annie Shekhar.

Political parties may be banking on these young people for their charisma but most of them have an uphill task ahead. Narvekar is confident, "I am here to stay, irrespective of the outcome of the polls," he says, echoing the words of the rest of the youth brigade.

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