NEW DELHI, 22 March 2004 — Rahul Gandhi, son of assassinated former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, will contest the upcoming parliamentary elections, marking a new political generation from the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, a Congress party leader said yesterday.
Rahul Gandhi, a 34-year-old computer scientist who has spent most of his adult life abroad, will contest in the Amethi seat which is currently held by his mother Sonia Gandhi, who heads the main opposition Congress party.
Sonia Gandhi, 57, will shift her seat to Rae Bareilly, another traditional seat of India’s most famous political family, senior Congress leader Ambica Soni told a news conference.
Opinion polls have placed the 118-year-old Congress party behind the ruling Hindu fundamentalists ahead of parliamentary elections due in five phases beginning April 20.
Congress leaders said no decision was yet taken on whether Rahul’s sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who had been the de facto manager of the Amethi seat, would also contest the election.
“We will make an announcement (about Priyanka) at an appropriate time,” Congress media secretary Tom Vadakkan told AFP.
Rahul Gandhi, a Harvard University graduate who used to work for a computer firm in London, bears a striking resemblance to his father, who was assassinated by Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger rebels in 1991.
“This is an interesting and expected move,” said independent political analyst Yashwant Deshmukh.
“But it doesn’t look at the moment that this would help the Congress in a big way. Winning one or two seats will not help. It’s a bit too little and too late.
“In fact, now the people’s expectations have been raised. They will have to live up to these expectations,” he said.
The dynasty was on the forefront of India’s movement for independence from Britain and Rahul Gandhi’s great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, became the first prime minister in 1947.
Nehru’s daughter Indira Gandhi became prime minister in 1966 and ruled with only a three-year break until 1984 when she was killed by her Sikh bodyguards at the height of a Sikh insurgency in Punjab state.
Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh unit of the Congress party yesterday submitted a memorandum to the state chief electoral officer (CEO) against BJP state unit President Vinay Katiyar for his reported remarks against Sonia Gandhi.
A party delegation led by state unit chief spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh met CEO Vijay Sharma and handed him a memorandum under the Representation of People’s Act against Katiyar. ‘’We have demanded action against Katiyar under article 125 of the act. Under the act, it is a crime to make such a statement against people and the offender can be debarred from electoral politics and put behind bars for three years,’’ he added.
Katiyar had reportedly related Gandhi to ‘Helen’ and ‘Gandhari’ both responsible for triggering major wars. While most BJP leaders have distanced themselves from Katiyar over the statement, the Congress has asked Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to apologise for the reported utterances by a BJP leader.
