As Rahul Gandhi seeks re-election, here are five key points:
Born on June 19, 1970 to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi is the grandson of Indira Gandhi, also a former Prime Minister, and the great-grandson of the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru. Rahul Gandhi was homeschooled after the assassination of Indira Gandhi. He studied at the University of Delhi's St Stephen's College and later moved to Harvard. Rahul Gandhi moved to Florida's Rollins College after the assassination of his father. Following his Master's degree from Trinity College in Cambridge, he started his professional career with a consulting firm in the UK.
Rahul Gandhi entered electoral politics during the 2004 Lok Sabha elections from UP's Amethi seat, then a stronghold of the Nehru-Gandhi family. The high-profile Lok Sabha seat was previously represented by Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and Sanjay Gandhi.
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) came to power in 2004. Rahul Gandhi wasn't a part of the government. He focused on working in the party and was appointed Congress's general secretary in 2007. He was elected to parliament from Amethi in 2009. With the Congress winning over 200 seats in the Lok Sabha election, calls for Rahul Gandhi to take over as Prime Minister grew within the party. However, he wasn't part of any ministry in the Manmohan Singh government.
Rahul Gandhi was appointed Congress vice president in 2013. The UPA government suffered defeat at the hands of the Narendra Modi-led BJP's campaign in the 2014 elections. The Congress was reduced to its lowest-ever tally of 44 seats. Though Rahul Gandhi managed to win the election from Amethi, he faced a tough competition from BJP's Smriti Irani.
In 2017, Rahul Gandhi was appointed Congress president, replacing his mother Sonia Gandhi. In less than a year of his appointment, the Congress swept three assembly elections - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, and Chhattisgarh. The victory gave hope of the Congress's possible revival in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Things panned out differently. PM Modi-led BJP consolidated its ground further, winning over 300 seats in the Lok Sabha. The Congress won just 52 seats. Rahul Gandhi lost his family stronghold seat of Amethi, but was elected from Wayanad. He resigned from the post of Congress president in view of the party's dismal performance in the polls.
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