Rahul Gandhi
Rahul Gandhi (born 19 June 1970) is politician and member of the political party Indian National Congress. His great-grandfather was Jawaharlal Nehru, who was India's first Prime-Minister.[1] His grandmother was Indira Gandhi who was India's first woman Prime Minister.[1] His father Rajiv Gandhi was India's youngest Prime Minister.[2] He is the chief of the Indian National Congress. He also heads the Indian Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India.[3] He is a former member of the Indian Parliament and represented Amethi, Uttar Pradesh in the 16th Lok Sabha.[4]
Rahul Gandhi | |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha | |
| Assumed office 4 June 2024 | |
| Preceded by | M. I. Shanavas |
| Constituency | Wayanad, Kerala |
| Assumed office 17 May 2004 | |
| Preceded by | Sonia Gandhi |
| Succeeded by | Smriti Irani |
| Constituency | Amethi, Uttar Pradesh |
| President of the Indian National Congress | |
| In office 16 December 2017 – 10 August 2019 | |
| Preceded by | Sonia Gandhi |
| Succeeded by | Sonia Gandhi (Interim) |
| Vice-President of the Indian National Congress | |
| In office 19 January 2013 – 16 December 2017 | |
| President | Sonia Gandhi |
| Preceded by | Jitendra Prasada |
| Succeeded by | Post Vacant |
| General Secretary of Indian National Congress | |
| In office 25 September 2007 – 19 January 2013 | |
| President | Sonia Gandhi |
| Chair of Indian Youth Congress | |
| In office 25 September 2007 – 17 December 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Chair of National Students’ Union of India | |
| Assumed office 25 September 2007 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 June 1970 New Delhi, India |
| Political party | Indian National Congress |
| Parents | [[Rajiv Gandhi]] Sonia Gandhi |
| Relatives | Nehru–Gandhi family |
| Education | University of Delhi Harvard University Rollins College (BA) Trinity College, Cambridge (MPhil) |
| Signature |  |
| Website | Official website |
Gandhi completed his primary education in New Delhi and Dehradun.[5] After his father became the Prime Minister, he was taught at home because of security problems.[6] He studied at Rollins College under an assumed name.[7] Later, he also attended Cambridge.[8]
Gandhi entered politics in 2004 and won the elections from Amethi. Amethi is a constituency that was earlier held by his father.[9] He won both the 2009 and 2014 elections from the same constituency.[10] [11]He became the General Secretary of the Congress in 2007 and was elected Vice-President of the party in 2013.[12] Gandhi led the Indian National Congress campaign for the 2014 Indian general elections. The party suffered its worst defeat in that election. It won only 44 seats.[13]
On 23 March 2023, Gandhi was convicted and sentenced to two years imprisonment by a court in Surat, Gujarat, under charges of defamation because of remarks he had made against Narendra Modi during the 2019 Indian general election campaign. On 24 March 2023, he was disqualified by the Lok Sabha speaker from the membership of the Parliament. The notification issued stated he was an Ex-MP and said that he was disqualified under Article 102 of the Constitution. On 4 August, Gandhi's conviction was stayed by the Supreme Court of India pending appeal.[14]
Early life
Rahul Gandhi was born in Panjab region on 19 June 1970.[15] He was the first of the two children of Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. His family is well known for having a special place in Indian politics. His father later became the Prime Minister of India. His mother became the President of the Indian National Congress. His paternal grandfather Feroze Gandhi was a Zorostrian from Gujarat.[16] Priyanka Vadra is his younger sister[17] and Robert Vadra is his brother-in-law. He identifies himself as a Hindu.[18]
Rahul Gandhi attended St. Columba's School, Delhi.[19] He studied at The Doon School in Dehradun, Uttarakhand from 1981 to 1983. Due to the security threats faced by the family from Sikh warriors after Indira Gandhi's assassination, he was later home-schooled.[20]
Rahul Gandhi joined Guru Nanak College, Delhi in 1989 for his undergraduate education.[21] However, he moved to Harvard University after he completed the first year examinations. In 1991, Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers.[22] After the assassination, Rahul Gandhi shifted to Rollins College in Florida, USA, due to security problems.[23] While he was at Rollins College, he used Raul Vinci as his name. His real name was known only to a few university officials and security agencies.[21][24] He later studied at Trinity College Cambridge.[25]
After graduation, Rahul Gandhi worked at the Monitor Group, a management consulting firm, in London.[26] In 2002, he became one of the directors of Mumbai-based technology outsourcing firm Backops Services Private Ltd.[27] In 2004, Gandhi had told the press that he had a Spanish girlfriend who was an architect. He had met her while studying in England.[28][29] In 2013, he suggested that he may not get married.[30]
Political Career
Rahul Gandhi's political career started in March 2004 when he said that he would become a candidate for the Amethi region for the elections held in India in May 2004. The Amethi region had earlier been held by his father, Rajiv Gandhi and then his mother Sonia Gandhi, who later chose another region to become a candidate from.
References
Further reading
- Sardesai, Rajdeep. 2014: The Election that Changed India (2014) Excerpt
Other websites
- Rahul Gandhi on Facebook
- Rahul Gandhi on Twitter
- Profile Archived 2019-04-21 at the Wayback Machine at Indian National Congress
- Biography Profile at Lok Sabha, Parliament of India
| Party political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Sonia Gandhi | President Indian National Congress 2017–present | Incumbent |
| Lok Sabha | ||
| Preceded by Sonia Gandhi | Member of Parliament Amethi 2004-present | Incumbent |