Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi (born
June 19,
1970) a Indian politician and member of the
Parliament of India from the
Indian National Congress.
Rahul Gandhi is a member of the
Nehru-Gandhi political family, the son of
Italian-born
Sonia Gandhi, the President of the Indian National Congress, and
Rajiv Gandhi, the former Prime Minister who was assassinated in 1991 by Sri Lankan Tamil militants. He was only 14 when his grand-mother, Prime Minister
Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by Sikh militants in 1984. His great-grandfather was
Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister and a distinguished leader of the national freedom struggle.
Rahul Gandhi attended
St. Columba's School in
New Delhi and then
The Doon School, his father's
alma mater which he attended 1981-83 before being home-schooled for security reasons. His admission to
St. Stephen's College was controversial as he was believed to have been admitted on the basis of his abilities as a competitive
pistol shooter, which were disputed. He is listed as attending
Harvard between 1990 and 1993 but never completed a degree; it was later claimed that he transferred, due to security concerns, to another university in
Massachusetts where he completed a B.A., but this other university has never been named. During the parliamentary elections in 2004, Gandhi claimed that he had received an MPhil. in Development Economics after attending
Trinity College,
Cambridge (media enquiries report that he attended under the alias "Rahul Vinci"[
1]). He worked in London with the strategy consultancy firm
Monitor Group, before returning to India in 2002 to start a software company.
Although, his mother had been the
Congress President and
Leader of the Opposition since 1998, Gandhi had showed little interest in politics. In 2003, there was widespread media speculation about his imminent entry into national politics; this was not discouraged. Appearing with his mother at public events and Congress meetings, Rahul also went to
Pakistan on a goodwill visit to watch a historic
cricket match between the two nations. In May 2004, he ran for the
Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, from his father's constituency of
Amethi in
Uttar Pradesh and won. His campaign was directed by his younger sister
Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra.
Since then he has reportedly sought to cultivate support from young Indians. He is also thought to be responsible for introduction of the
controversial reservation bill for OBC's in India. There is a general feeling that this will help revive Congress in UP which is currently under Samajwadi Party that is bitterly opposed to Congress.
Although he holds no other office and concentrates mainly on constituency issues and the politics of Uttar Pradesh, it is speculated by some that Sonia Gandhi is trying to groom him for a chance to become a Congress leader in the future.
*http://www.rahulgandhi.com Unofficial Site of Rahul Gandhi
*http://rahulgandhi.8k.com Unofficial Site of Rahul Gandhi
*http://www.rahulgandhi.net Unofficial Site of Rahul Gandhi
*
Indian National Congress*
Nehru-Gandhi Dynasty
