For someone who has been the heir-apparent in the Congress for quite a few years, and Amethi's representative in Parliament since 2004, Rahul Gandhi remains an enigma to most of his partymen.
The celebrations that have followed his appointment as a general secretary of the party are part relief that he is now formally into the party hierarchy (a demand first raised at an All India Congress Committee session in Hyderabad some time ago), and part expectation that he will galvanise young voters and party workers across the country.
Generally perceived as someone who lacks the natural warmth and magnetism of his younger sister Priyanka, Rahul (who is 37) is seen as the more intelligent and better read of the two, someone who prefers to understand an issue in depth -- perhaps the result of his years in the management consultancy firm Monitor, in London, following degrees from the two Cambridges in the US and UK (making him by far the most-educated member of his illustrious family).
Image: All India Congress Committee General Secretary Rahul Gandhi greets supporters in New Delhi soon after his appointment on September 24
Text: Nistula Hebbar | Photograph: Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images
Also read: Sonia must back Priyanka, not Rahul
Advertisement
