Gandhi scion takes over Congress leadership

18 Jan Daily Telegraph

Rahul Gandhi will follow in the footsteps of his great-grandfather Nehru, grandmother Indira, and father Rajiv to lead the ruling Congress Party in an election it is expected to lose.

Rahul Gandhi, scion of India’s Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, took charge of his party’s general election campaign on Friday promising to be a “warrior” for the marginalised and a champion of women, the poor and ordinary Congress workers.The party, which currently leads a coalition government, is expected to target young voters by projecting Mr Gandhi’s youthful image and idealistic style, in contrast to his main challenger Narendra Modi’s reputation for Hindu nationalism and communal conflict.

He spoke after India’s finance minister P. Chidambaram called for half of the party’s candidates in the coming election to be no older than 35 and highlighted his focus on youth when he referred to Congress workers as “young or young at heart.” In a fiery address to rally party workers demoralised by a series of devastating state election defeats, Mr Gandhi pledged to open up the Congress hierarchy traditionally a preserve of India’s elite to ordinary grassroots campaigners and stage primaries to select candidates.Fifteen of its candidates for this year’s Spring election will be elected by local party members, he said, as part of his campaign to encourage its grassroots workers to have a greater say in decision-making.

Commentators said his speech reflected pessimism over the party’s prospects in an election many expect the Bharatiya Janata Party’s controversial leader Narendra Modi to win and was aimed at rallying his party to mimimise the scale of defeat and its likely fallout.Last month Congress was ousted from power in Delhi and beaten into third place by the new Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party which highlighted a series of corruption scandals which have tainted the Congress-led government.

In Rajasthan, where it has been in power, the party was decimated by the BJP.Mr Gandhi however said his party should not be underestimated and reminded its workers of its idealism and his successes ahead of what he expects will be a bruising campaign.