Gwalior:
Rahul Gandhi is touring Madhya Pradesh, interacting with students of prestigious institutions. His young, dynamic and clean image is drawing huge crowds, but is that enough for the Congress to reclaim political space in a state that has taken a deep saffron hue in the last decade?
At Gwalior's Laxmi Bai University, Rahul faced questions on topics ranging from women's reservation to corruption and faults in the education system. He had one solution - join politics and become the change.
"Anyone can become a member of the NSUI and the Youth Congress, as long as you are secular and have no criminal background," he said.
It was the same story at Sagar, Jabalpur and Bhopal. "He is trying to promote the youth, people who barely have any money. He has started a revolution," said a local. "He is our icon," said another.
The Congress has been struggling to widen its base in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh. At least on the youth, Rahul's charisma seems to be working.
Since December, more than 1,50,000 people have applied to the NSUI - the student wing of the Congress party. That's more than double the members who joined in the last five years. But it is still far less than the BJP student wing ABVP's two lakh members.
Various polls have only reinforced this yawning gap. "We consider Rahul a bubble in Indian politics," says Vishvaas Sarang, ABVP's President in Madhya Pradesh.
At Gwalior's Laxmi Bai University, Rahul faced questions on topics ranging from women's reservation to corruption and faults in the education system. He had one solution - join politics and become the change.
"Anyone can become a member of the NSUI and the Youth Congress, as long as you are secular and have no criminal background," he said.
It was the same story at Sagar, Jabalpur and Bhopal. "He is trying to promote the youth, people who barely have any money. He has started a revolution," said a local. "He is our icon," said another.
The Congress has been struggling to widen its base in BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh. At least on the youth, Rahul's charisma seems to be working.
Since December, more than 1,50,000 people have applied to the NSUI - the student wing of the Congress party. That's more than double the members who joined in the last five years. But it is still far less than the BJP student wing ABVP's two lakh members.
Various polls have only reinforced this yawning gap. "We consider Rahul a bubble in Indian politics," says Vishvaas Sarang, ABVP's President in Madhya Pradesh.
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