Rahul Gandhi is a significant Indian politician who is the Chairperson of the Indian Youth Congress and National Students Union of India, besides serving the nation as the Vice President of the party called Indian National Congress. He has also delivered his services to the All India Congress Committee as its General Secretary and is the Member of Parliament (MP) of Amethi constituency. He has obtained the second rank as a member of the Congress Working Committee. Rahul Gandhi hails from the legendary Nehru-Gandhi family of politicians.
Early Life of Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi was born on 19th June, 1970 to Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in Delhi. Rahul Gandhi was the grandson of Indira Gandhi, the influential Prime Minister of the country during that time and the great-grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru. His younger sister is Priyanka Vadra who married Robert Vadra. Rahul Gandhi was admitted to St. Columba`s School in Delhi prior to joining The Doon School which is located at Dehradun, Uttarakhand till the year 1983, since 1981.
Following the assassination of Indira Gandhi on 31st October, 1984, Rajiv Gandhi became the next Prime Minister. However, soon afterwards his family started receiving threats from Sikh extremists due to which he started obtaining home education along with his sister Priyanka. Rahul Gandhi started attending St. Stephen`s College in Delhi in the year 1989 for continuing under-graduate education.
Later, he shifted to Harvard University after the commencement of his first year examinations. After his father Rajiv Gandhi was murdered by LTTE in 1991, Rahul Gandhi was compelled to move to Rollins College for security issues. Here he completed B.A. in the year 1994. This was the time when he adopted a pseudonym, `Raul Vinci` and his real identity was known only to registered security agencies and officials of his university. During 1995, he attended Trinity College in Cambridge and received an M.Phil from this institute. Gandhi started working at a management consulting firm in London following his graduation.
Political Career of Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi publicly declared in March 2004 that he would stand for the elections of May 2004, which marked his first entry into the world of politics. He represented Amethi constituency, Uttar Pradesh in Lok Sabha which served as his father`s constituency. Eventually, Rahul Gandhi was successful in winning the elections by more than 1, 00, 000 votes. Gandhi did not hold any other office of profit till the year 2006. Accompanied by sister Priyanka, Rahul Gandhi again was capable of managing their mother Sonia Gandhi`s campaign in Rae Bareilly during 2006. Even in this election, he won by over 4, 00, 000 votes. Gandhi played a significant role in the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, though his party Congress had won just 22 seats with 8.53 percent of votes.
He was made the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee during 24th September, 2007. In a reshuffle, Rahul Gandhi was made the leader of Indian Youth Congress and even the National Students Union of India. Gandhi embraced his role as the Vice President of Congress party on 19th January, 2013. Presently Rahul Gandhi has directed his efforts towards establishing anti-corruption legislations in the country. Rahul Gandhi was able to secure his Amethi seat when he emerged victorious against his rival by a margin of more than 3, 33, 000 votes during the elections of the year 2009. Thereafter, he was recognised for the re-establishment of Congress in the state of Uttar Pradesh wherein Congress Party had managed to win 21 from the total 80 seats of Lok Sabha.
For a period of two months, Gandhi campaigned in the 2012 Assembly elections. Congress finally won 28 seats, a marked improvement in the number of seats compared to the earlier elections of the year 2007.