Rahul Gandhi is the political scion of the Gandhi dynasty and is touted as the future Prime Minister of the country. He entered active politics in 2004 when he decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Shy and reticent, this Gandhi has been learning the political ropes by spending time in his constituency and other villages. Considered one of India's most eligible bachelors, Rahul Gandhi has been responsible for bringing young faces in the Congress at the grasroot level.
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Member of Parliament and General Secretary of the Indian National Congress
Incumbent
Assumed office
2004
Preceded by Sonia Gandhi
Constituency Amethi , Uttar Pradesh
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Born 19 June 1970 (1970-06-19) (age 38)
New Delhi, India
Political party Indian National Congress
Residence New Delhi
Alma mater Rollins College
Cambridge University
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Early Life
Rahul Gandhi was born in New Delhi to Rajiv Gandhi, former Prime Minster of India and Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, the current Congress President. His grandmother was Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, his great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, was the first Prime Minister of India, and his great-great-grandfather Motilal Nehru was a distinguished leader of the Indian independence movement
He attended Modern School, New Delhi before entering the The Doon School,also his father's alma mater, from 1981-83 before being home-schooled for security reasons. Starting university at Harvard and eventually got his B.A. from Rollins College, Florida in 1994. He received an MPhil in Development Studies in 1995 from Trinity College, Cambridge.
Career
Early career
Rahul Gandhi, after graduating worked with management guru, Michael Porter's Management consulting firm, Monitor Group. for three years. His colleagues at the firm had no idea who they were working with— as he was using an assumed name. His reputation within the company was very impressive, in the words of one senior partner. He returned to India in late 2002 to run an engineering and technology outsourcing firm in Mumbai.
Political career
In 2003, there was widespread media speculation about Rahul Gandhi's imminent entry into national politics, which he did not confirm. He appeared with his mother at public events and Congress meetings. He also traveled to Pakistan on a goodwill visit to watch the first cricket series between the countries in 14 years in a One Day International with his sister Priyanka Gandhi.
Speculation heightened in January 2004 about his and his sister's possible entry into politics when they visited their father's former constituency of Amethi, which their mother held at the time. He refused to give a definitive response, stating "I am not averse to politics. I have not decided when I will enter politics and indeed, if I ever will."
In March 2004, he announced his entry into politics by announcing that he would contest the May 2004 elections, standing for his father's former constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of Parliament.[14] Before that, his uncle Sanjay held the seat before a plane crash. The seat had been held by his mother until she transferred to the neighbouring seat of Rae Bareilly. The Congress had been doing poorly in Uttar Pradesh, holding only 10 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state at the time.[13] At the time, this move generated surprise among political commentators, who had regarded his sister Priyanka as being the more charismatic and likely to succeed. Party officials did not have a CV ready for the media, such was the surprise of his move. It generated speculation that the presence of a young member of India's most famous political family would reinvigorate the Congress party's political fortunes among India's youthful populationIn his first interview with foreign media, he portrayed himself as a uniter of the country and condemned "divisive" politics in India, saying that he would try to reduce caste and religious tensions. His candidacy was greeted with excitement by locals, who had a long standing affinity with the family's presence in the area. , Politician of Indian National Congress]] He won with a landslide majority, retaining the family stronghold with a margin of over 100,000 as the Congress unexpectedly defeated the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.His campaign was directed by his younger sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.[citation needed] Till 2006 he held no other office and concentrated mainly on constituency issues and the politics of Uttar Pradesh, and it was widely speculated in the Indian and international press that Sonia Gandhi is trying to groom him for a chance to become a national-level Congress leader in the future.
In January 2006, at a convention of the Indian National Congress in Hyderabad, thousands of party members asked for Gandhi to take a more prominent leadership role in the party and demanded that he address the delegates. He said "I appreciate and I am grateful for your feelings and support. I assure you I will not let you down", but asked for patience and declined to immediately seek a higher profile role.
Gandhi and his sister managed their mother's campaign for reelection to Rae Bareilly in 2006, which was won easily with a margin greater than 400,000 votes.[19]
He was a prominent figure in a high profile Congress campaign for the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections; Congress, however, won only 22 seats with 8.53% of votes. The election saw the Bahujan Samaj Party, which represents low caste Indians, to become the first party to govern in its own right in Uttar Pradesh for 16 years.[20]
Rahul Gandhi was appointed a general secretary of the All India Congress Committee on 24 September 2007 in a reshuffle of the party secretariat.[21] In the same reshuffle, he was also given charge of the Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India.
In his attempt to prove himself as a youth leader in November 2008 he held interviews at his 12, Tughlak Lane residence in New Delhi to handpick at least 40 people who will make up the think-tank of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC), an organisation that he has been keen to transform since he was appointed general secretary in September 2007.
[edit] 2009 Elections
In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, he retained his Amethi constutuency by defeating his nearest rival by a margin of over 333,000 votes. In these elections congress is said to have revived itself in Uttar Pradesh by winning 21 out of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats and the majority of the credit for this turnaround is given to Rahul Gandhi.[24] He spoke at 125 rallies across the country in six weeks.
He is referred to as RG, in party circles.
Personal life
In 2004, he was reported to have been dating Veronica, an architect from Spain. The two met while at university.
Source : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rahul_Gandhi
