Early life Rahul is a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family, the most prominent political family in India. He is the son of current Italian-born Congress President Sonia Gandhi, and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated on 21st May 1991. Gandhi was 14 years old when his grandmother, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was assassinated on 31st October 1984 by her security guards. 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.
Education and early career
Rahul Gandhi attended Modern School, New Delhi before entering the The Doon School. The Doon School had been his father's alma mater. Rahul Gandhi attended Doon from 1981-83 before being home-schooled for security reasons. His admission to St Stephen's College was controversial as he was admitted on the basis of his abilities as a competitive pistol shooter, which was disputed. He left the school in 1990, after one year of education.
It is reported that Harvard alumni records list him as attending between 1990 and 1993 but not as completing a degree. He transferred, reportedly due to security concerns following his father's assassination, to Rollins College in Florida where he completed a B.A. in 1994. 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 "Raul Vinci".
He worked in London with the strategy consultancy firm Monitor Group, before returning to India in late 2002 to run an engineering and technology outsourcing firm in Mumbai.
A young man with great charismatic aura and vision unbeatable with any political hurdle is set to mark the trend of his ancestors. He is set to make his vision a reality. He is Rahul Gandhi, one of the India's new ray of hope in the world of Indian politics. Explore his life that treads through his childhood, mysterious love stories and his latest political achievements
In 2003, there was widespread media speculation about Gandhi's imminent entry into national politics, which he did not confirm.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 Test 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 by a wide margin. His campaign was directed by his younger sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and his victory generated considerable media excitement and enthusiasm amongst the younger citizens of the country. He leads a new coterie of young MPs, all sons of distinguished Congressmen. Since then, Gandhi has sought to cultivate support from young Indians by carefully working up his profile through the media and staying away from the scandals of coalition politics.
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.
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. Rahul Gandhi was appointed a general secretary of the All India Congress Committee on 24 September 2007 in a reshuffle of the party secretariat. 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.
Rahul gandi—Power of youth
“Building the future on the foundation of the past,” reads one of the slogans in a not-so-subtle nod to Mr Gandhi’s father, Rajiv, and grandmother Indira, both of whom were prime ministers.
Mr Gandhi explained the logic himself in a speech at a meeting of party leaders “Youth in India has no parallel in the world,” This youth power has the potential to bring fast change. The country needs it and it is our responsibility to use youth in our nation’s development. '' Only the youth can ensure a postitive impact on the country through their fresh ideas and able administration....'' he said adding, ''we must listen to the voice of the youth''. “It is sad that youths have enthusiasm for work but they are not getting a chance,” the scion of Nehru-Gandhi family said addressing a convention of district and block level party office bearers here While harping on the democratisation of Indian Youth Congress in Punjab and Uttarakhand, Rahul said that youth can get an opportunity through Congress organisations to be involved in nation building, “but for that we will have to open the closed doors of our organisation.”
“Youths have an idealistic outlook but there are doubts among the youth over politics as if there is a wall. We will demolish this wall in near future,” Rahul said. Addressing the youth leaders he said, “you work day and night but when time for election comes you do not get chance to contest.”
Rahul also admitted shortcomings in the youth organisation of the party saying, “youth do not get entry into this organisation easily and require money and recommendation for it.
He said that unless these shortcomings are removed, the effort to empower youth will remain incomplete.
Rahul asks for a greater share in ticket allocation for youth leaders, vowes to demolish the “wall” which was preventing young people from joining the Congress.
