Rahul Gandhi, whose father, grandmother and great-grandfather were prime ministers of India, said last night that he would stand in the country’s forthcoming general election, reigniting a bitter political debate over whether the world’s biggest democracy was being ”hijacked by dynasty”.
The 33-year-old, who studied at Harvard and has worked for an investment bank in London, will stand for election in the north Indian constituency of Amethi. The seat was held by his father, Rajiv, assassinated in 1989, and is currently held by Rahul’s mother, the Italian-born Sonia, who leads the opposition Congress party.
There were reports last night that his younger sister, Priyanka, would also join the fray. She is seen by analysts as the more politically astute of the two children.
The calculation is that the entry of the young, telegenic Gandhis will revitalise the campaign of the Congress party, which has governed India for 42 out of the 57 years since independence, but which has been out of power for nearly a decade.
Many supporters welcomed the move last night, pointing out that the pair drew thousands of people when they made an impromptu visit to Amethi in January.
The emergence of both Rahul and Priyanka will also help to blunt the issue of their mother’s foreign origins, which has been ruthlessly and successfully exploited by the ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata party.
The Congress party, which has been reeling from electoral losses in key states, has quietly pushed the children into the limelight — in one advertisement they are seen to morph electronically into the faces of their father and grandmother, Indira, who was killed in 1984.
”Rahul is an extremely serious-minded young man who understands the Congress party’s tradition and heritage. He has lots of charisma which will appeal to the rank and file of the party,” said Devendra Dwivedi, a former Congress MP and general secretary.
A recent opinion poll showed that 70% supported the entry of the Gandhi children into politics, and 67% said it would enthuse young voters, who make up half of India’s one billion people.
The BJP, which heads India’s ruling coalition government, attacked the move, saying it would have ”no effect”.
”India has rejected dynasty for more than a decade, so this attempt to win votes will fail,” said Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, the BJP’s chief spokesman.
Like the Kennedys in America, the Gandhis are India’s first family of politics, whose rise has been marred by tragedy. Jawaharlal Nehru, Rahul’s great-grandfather, led the country to independence in 1947. But both Rajiv and Indira Gandhi were prime ministers who were assassinated while in office.
There is no doubt that the family has cast a spell over the 600 million-strong electorate: for 37 years the country had a prime minister from the Gandhi clan. But political commentators say that the main effect of Rahul Gandhi’s run for office will be to stop the decline of the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh. India’s biggest state was once a party stronghold, but Congress only won 10 out of the 80 seats in the last general election.
”I think it will help to stop the erosion of support in Uttar Pradesh considerably,” said one political commentator, AG Noorani. ”The Congress does not have the electoral bases of the smaller regional parties, but any impact there will help to stem the BJP tide.”
But Priyanka Gandhi’s gift for fierce political oratory, as well as her striking resemblance to her grandmother, has led many to say that it is she who should be taking the plunge into electoral politics first.
”Priyanka is clearly more into politics than Rahul and she will clearly campaign with more energy and have a greater effect,” said Yogendra Yadav, a political scientist. ”But it is still an open question as to whether it would be enough to swing the public mood decisively.” – Guardian Unlimited Â