Knowing our PM candidates : Mr. Rahul Gandhi (Part-3)

Today, I am posting the profile of Mr. Rahul Gandhi, the last in our list of PM candidates.


For Mr. Arvind Kejriwal’s profile - http://newlightforlife.blogspot.in/2014/03/knowing-our-pm-candidates-mr-arvind.html


For Mr. Narendra Modi’s profile - http://newlightforlife.blogspot.in/2014/04/knowing-our-pm-candidates-mr-narendra.html


Profile of Rahul Gandhi


Name -  Mr. Rahul Gandhi

Age – 43 years

Birth Place – He was born in Delhi, the capital of India on 19^th June, 1970 as first of the two children of India’s ex prime minister, Mr. Rajiv Gandhi.

Current position -

He is presently the acting vice president of Indian National Congress (INC) and the chairperson of Indian Youth Congress. He is also regarded as the second highest authority in the congress working committee after Ms. Sonia Gandhi.


Educational Qualification -

Mr. Gandhi did his initial schooling from St. Columbia’s School, Delhi before moving to the Doon School of Dehradun from 1981-83 for better education.


Mr. Gandhi was then home-schooled from 1984 till 1989 because of the security concerns against the backdrop of the assassination in 1984 of the then prime minister of the country and his grandmother, Ms. Indra Gandhi.  


In 1989, Mr. Gandhi joined the St. Stephens College, Delhi University for his graduation. But, within a year, he was moved to Harvard University for security reasons.


In 1991, when Mr. Rajiv Gandhi (his father) was assassinated, he was again moved from Harvard to Rollins College for security reasons. Finally, he completed his graduation in 1994 in B.A from Rollins.


After completing his graduation, Mr. Gandhi went on to complete his M.Phil from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1995.


Work Experience -

Mr. Gandhi, after completing his M.Phil from Cambridge, started working at a management consulting firm, Monitor group, in London.

In 2002, he became one of the directors of Mumbai based technology outsourcing firm, Backops service Private Ltd.

In march, 2004 Mr. Gandhi decided to enter into politics by expressing his desire of fighting the May 2004 general elections from Amethi seat. He won the seat easily, making him a member of the 4th consecutive generation of Gandhi family to enter the parliament.

On 24^th September, 2007 Mr. Gandhi was appointed the General Secretary of All India National Congress Committee in a party secretariat reshuffle. Along with this, he was also given the charge of Indian Youth Congress and National Students Union of India.

Currently, Mr. Gandhi is seen as the future of Indian National Congress. Many senior party leaders have expressed their desire of making him the prime ministerial candidate for the upcoming 2014 general elections.

 
Achievements -

Youth Politics -

In September, 2007 when Mr. Gandhi was made the general secretary of the Indian Youth congress and the president of National Students Union of India (NSUI), he promised to overhaul and reform the youth politics in India. He tried his best by giving more space to deserving youth in the party which added to his popularity among youth. Under him, both IYC and NSUI saw a dramatic increase in the number of youth members. He has constantly vouched for the need of bringing more youth into the politics.

Political career -

Mr. Gandhi has been in active politics for around 10 years now as he was first elected as a member of the parliament in 2004. Since then, he has been actively involved in strengthening the ground level base of his party.


Criticism -

One of the criticisms that Mr. Gandhi consistently faces is his lack of experience in administration as he has never held any office. He has always been reluctant of taking charge of any of the portfolios in his party’s govt., which seriously weakens his candidature against other competitors.