Addressing the National Youth Day programme in Gurugram on Monday, BJP acting national president Nitin Nabin said India’s youth must lead the country’s journey towards development, asserting that whenever the nation touched new heights, it was young people who drove the change.
Nabin address a crowd at the ‘Rashtriya Yuva Diwas’ event at Guru Kamal on Monday. (Parveen Kumar/HT)
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Paying tribute to Swami Vivekananda on his birth anniversary, Nabin said the spiritual leader had always placed his faith in youth power. He said India was currently witnessing a phase in which young people were not just job seekers but job creators, contributing to technological and economic transformation in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of a developed India.
Nabin also praised Haryana chief minister Nayab Singh Saini, saying the state was scaling new milestones under his leadership. Referring to demographic trends, he noted that nearly 65% of India’s population is below 35 years of age and described the coming decades as “the era of youth leadership”. ”.
Addressing the gathering, Saini said Swami Vivekananda was not merely a spiritual figure but a timeless inspiration who taught youth the values of self-belief and national pride. He said the BJP believed in merit and hard work rather than dynastic politics and claimed that over 180,000 youths had received government jobs in Haryana over the past 11 years through a transparent recruitment process.
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Meanwhile, state BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli said Vivekananda gave the youth the mantra of nationalism and courage, urging them to move forward with a “nation first” approach so that India could emerge as a global power.
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Meanwhile, state BJP president Mohan Lal Badoli said Vivekananda gave the youth the mantra of nationalism and courage, urging them to move forward with a “nation first” approach so that India could emerge as a global power.
Leena Dhankhar is Senior Editor and Bureau Chief, Gurugram, at Hindustan Times, where she has spent over 17 years chronicling the transformation of one of India's fastest-growing urban regions. From starting her career as a crime reporter to leading the Gurugram bureau, her journalism has been defined by investigative reporting, in-depth storytelling and an unwavering focus on public interest.
Over nearly two decades, she has reported extensively across crime, politics, civic governance, elections, real estate, environment, courts, sports, education and entertainment, covering Gurugram, Faridabad, Nuh and Palwal. Her reporting has exposed several major scams and systemic failures, including insurance frauds, waste management irregularities, illegal arms manufacturing units in Nuh, illegal mining in the Aravallis, organised crime networks and governance lapses affecting millions of residents.
Known for her investigative work and exclusive stories, Leena has reported on high-impact national issues, including the Nicaragua charter flight carrying Indian migrants that was turned back amid allegations of human trafficking, exposing the growing network of illegal immigration rackets. Her work has also focused on gang wars, prison administration, juvenile crime, women and child protection systems, the functioning of the Juvenile Justice Board and Child Welfare Committee, and environmental challenges such as pollution, waterlogging and deteriorating civic infrastructure.
Beyond hard news, Leena has extensively documented Haryana's rich heritage, forests and wildlife, bringing attention to the state's historical landmarks, biodiversity, conservation efforts and ecological challenges through immersive reportage and feature writing.
Her journalism has consistently gone beyond breaking news. She has documented Gurugram's rapid urbanisation through long-form narratives and enterprise reporting on issues ranging from pothole-ridden roads, flooding and waste management to the changing social fabric of India's Millennium City. She also writes widely read feature columns, including The Outsider, Changemaker, and Concern for Gurugram, profiling people, places and ideas shaping the city's identity.
Leena is the author of Gurugram School Murder, published by Juggernaut Books, a deeply reported account of one of India's most high-profile school murder investigations. She is currently working on her second book, an investigative work exploring some of India's most significant scams and fraud investigations.
Beyond print journalism, she has expanded her storytelling through public speaking and digital media. She is a TEDx speaker and has produced podcasts exploring Gurugram's transformation, civic challenges and untold stories. Her work reflects a commitment to narrative journalism that combines rigorous reporting with compelling storytelling.
A law graduate with an MBA in Human Resources, Leena brings a multidisciplinary perspective to her reporting, particularly on governance, public policy and legal affairs. She has travelled extensively across India to pursue investigative assignments, often reporting from remote locations and conflict-prone areas in search of stories that matter.
