Rahul Gandhi Comes of Age
At a time when the traditional media is all praise for young Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, we are reproducing an article we carried on this website in April, 2008 – just before the Karnataka Assembly elections.
April 9, 2008
Visionmp.com News Service
The girls in Bangalore adore him, Mayawati considers his forays into Dalit Uttar Pradesh a gimmick, The IOA invites him to carry the Olympic flame, his refusal to a cabinet berth makes national headlines and commodity as mundane as his “special soap” is a part of the public domain. With adulation and criticism pouring at him from all parts of the country Rahul Gandhi, the Congress’ prince in waiting, has certainly come of age.
Opposition may wave it off as gallery play but Rahul Gandhi’s decision to concentrate on the NSUI and Youth Congress at the cost of a ministerial berth as MoS PMO has definitely met the approval of congress rank and file, as party leaders across the country look towards him to reinvigorate the party and more importantly their dwindling electoral fortunes.
The young Gandhi endeared himself to millions in the country as he blushed on national television last month and as a skilled warrior his outings in unfriendly territory earned him bitter criticism from the opposition, all within the span of a fortnight.
Mayawati’s stubborn stand on the “special soap” and the well meaning silence of the Gandhi on an issue, considered infra dig by urban India, has again added to the Rahul persona and proved his political acumen beyond doubt.
Fortunately for the Congress the media savvy Gandhi has attained political puberty at a time when the party is desperately seeking a rare combination of political dynamism and public acceptance in its leaders.
The Congress campaign in Karnataka will provide Gandhi with an opportunity to test his new found political teeth and prepare him for the forthcoming general elections where this young man will be the Congress’ star attraction.
