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Revision as of 20:36, 3 February 2007 by SohanDsouza (talk | contribs) (→Controversy)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff)| Rahul Gandhi | |
|---|---|
| Constituency | Amethi |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 19 June, 1970 New Delhi, Delhi |
| Political party | INC |
| Residence | New Delhi |
| As of September 22, 2006Source: | |
Rahul Gandhi (born June 19, 1970) is an Indian politician and member of the Parliament of India, representing the Amethi constituency. His political party is the Indian National Congress.
Family
Rahul Gandhi is a member of the Nehru-Gandhi political family, the son of Sonia Gandhi, currently the President of the Indian National Congress, and Rajiv Gandhi, the former Prime Minister who was assassinated in 1991 by Sri Lankan Tamil Ealam militants, LTTE. Rahul was 14 years old when his grandmother, Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was assassinated by her security men. His great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, was India's first Prime Minister. His great-great-grandfather, Motilal Nehru, was a distinguished leader of the Indian independence movement.
Education and career before politics
Rahul Gandhi attended Modern School, New Delhi and St Columba's School, also in New Delhi, before entering the The Doon School. The Doon School had been his father's alma mater. Rahul Gandhi attended Doon from 1981-83 before being home-schooled for security reasons. His admission to St Stephen's College was controversial as he was believed to have been admitted on the basis of his abilities as a competitive pistol shooter, which was disputed. He only attended the school for one year.
It is reported that Harvard alumni records list him as attending between 1990 and 1993 but not as completing a degree. He transferred, reportedly due to security concerns following his father's murder, to Rollins College in Florida where he completed a B.A. in 1994. During the parliamentary elections in 2004, Gandhi claimed that he had received an MPhil in Development Economics after attending Trinity College, Cambridge. Media enquiries report that he attended under the alias "Rahul Vinci"). He worked in London with the strategy consultancy firm Monitor Group, before returning to India in 2002 to start a software company.
Rahul Gandhi was admitted to the prestigious St. Stephen's College on the basis of his special abilities in the sport of underwater archery, a sport that was not heard of before in India. This was done in spite of his poor grades at School.
Political career
In 2003, there was widespread media speculation about Gandhi's imminent entry into national politics, which he did not deny. Appearing with his mother at public events and Congress meetings, Gandhi also went to Pakistan on a goodwill visit to watch a historic cricket match between the two nations In May 2004, he stood for the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament, from his father's constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh and won with a landslide majority. His campaign was directed by his younger sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Since then he has reportedly sought to cultivate support from young Indians. Although he holds no other office and concentrates mainly on constituency issues and the politics of Uttar Pradesh, it has been widely speculated in the Indian and international press that Sonia Gandhi is trying to groom him for a chance to become a national-level Congress leader in the future.
Controversy
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Recent allegations of involvement in gang rape have surfaced against Rahul Gandhi, although neither has a formal complaint been filed, nor have formal charges been filed by the authorities. These allegations apparently originated at HinduUnity.Org, which claims to be the official website of the Bajrang Dal, and were soon being reproduced on other non-mainstream blogs and websites . According to the most common version of the allegations, on the night of December 3rd, 2006, Gandhi and a group of 7 men were reportedly camping at Amethi. They were joined around 9pm by an uninvited guest, 24 year old Sukanya Devi photo (cited as being posted with her family's permission on referring sites). Devi's family are said to be staunch Nehru-Gandhi followers. Allegedly forced to drink hard liqour, the intoxicated Devi was alleged to have been subsequently raped by Gandhi and his group. She was then allegedly given Rs. 50,000 and asked not to reveal the episode to anyone. Devi was spurned by her father, Balram Singh, an ardent supporter of Gandhi's Congress Party, and was able only to gain the support of her mother, Sumanthra Devi. Despite alleged repeated requests, police officials refused to lodge a complaint, allegedly due to Rahul Gandhi's powerful family ties, and allegedly threatened Sukanya Devi instead. She was also reportedly spurned by the Human Rights Commission.
Devi and her mother have since gone into hiding. No witnesses to the crime has come forward to support Devi's claims. The website HinduUnity.org has now come under legal fire by Rahul Gandhi for "'perverted, scurrilous and gutter writing' against him and his family members." . The website, seemingly in support of some of the Congress Party's political opponents, has rebutted with allegations of free speech violation and censorship by the Government of India, ruling Congress Party leader Sonia Gandhi and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.
References
- The Hindu Frontline magazine, 10-23 April 2004
- The Hindustan Times, 16 January 2007
- The Telegraph India, 7 May 2004.
- The Tribune, Chandigarh, 21 August 2004; The Telegraph India, 20 May 2006; BBC News, 26 May 2004.