Rahul, 40, the new age Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi turns 40 on June 19. For the young man whose widely acknowledged destiny is to be the country's leader, it has been a study in progress- an honest attempt at discovering India and its people.

Shy and reticent, this Gandhi has been learning the political ropes by spending time in his constituency and other villages. Be it the nights he spent at Dalit homes in Amethi, or his interaction with students in cities, Rahul, with his youthful appeal, is known to wade into crowds to confront issues.

This year, partymen celebrated the Congress general secretary's birthday by cutting a 70 kg cake outside the Congress office. They then distributed it among children.

Party workers revelled in joy and danced outside the Congress office in New Delhi.

Here's a look at the life and times of a young leader who derives his political energy from the masses.

When Rahul Gandhi turned down a Cabinet post in the Manmohan Singh government and announced that he wanted to concentrate on strengthening the party at the grassroots level, the decision was met with much admiration. The self-effacing Nehru-Gandhi scion, once seen as a reluctant politician, was credited for his starring role in the resounding victory of the Congress in the 2009 elections and the revival of the party in Uttar Pradesh.

Senior party leaders were quick to lavish praise on Rahul Gandhi for the decisive victory of the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA), which defied most pollsters' predictions who were projecting a fractured verdict.

This was clearly Rahul Gandhi's summer of content as Year 2009 saw a stunning transformation of the Gandhi heir apparent into a shrewd strategist and politician as he emerged from the shadows to campaign tirelessly in the blistering summer heat, addressing as many as 10-15 rallies a day.

It was he who single handedly made great strides into the bastion of Mulayam Singh and Mayawati and both were left gasping, unable to stop the tide turning in favour of Rahul Gandhi.

Rahul Gandhi's role in mobilising the youth power, his strenuous efforts at rejuvenating the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, and his robust defence of Manmohan Singh as the party's prime ministerial candidate against the BJP's onslaught were seen as some of his singular contributions to the party's victory. (PTI Photo)

As Congress General Secretary in charge of youth affairs who became MP for the first time from Amethi in 2004, Rahul Gandhi proved to be a relentless campaigner, turning on his charm on voters.

He addressed over 140 campaign rallies across India and said he wanted to usher in a new brand of democratic politics by promoting a new generation of future leaders, chosen through internal elections and talent hunt.

In Uttar Pradesh and other states, he made a habit of staying in the homes Dalits to show Congress is not aloof from the 'aam aadmi'.

Rahul in his own words: "The thought comes to my mind that a lot of work needs to be done. In India there are a lot of poor people. And as a young Indian, it annoys me that we refuse to focus on the real issues and do so only on non-issues. By doing this we distract and slow ourselves down."

In January 2009, Rahul got his friend British Foreign Secretary David Miliband to spend a night with him in a Dalit woman's hut at Simara village in Uttar Pradesh. The village falls under the Amethi Parliamentary constituency represented by Rahul Gandhi. (Photo: AFP)

Rahul has won hearts time and again with his 'common man' approach. In August 2009, the AICC General Secretary took the Metro to reach as close as possible to his 10 Janpath home after he returned to Delhi from Raipur after a two-day visit to Chhattisgarh.

Traffic on all arterial roads in the Capital had gone haywire for several hours following heavy rains and hundreds of vehicles remained stuck for varying durations in the snarls. Rahul landed at the Indira Gandhi International Airport and took a detour to the nearby Metro station at Dwarka. He then boarded the underground train that took him to Rajiv Chowk station, about two kms from his home. (Photo: PTI)

When in Mumbai, Rahul stepped out of his well-secured car to visit an ATM, and then suddenly hopped on to a local train at Dadar. He won the hearts of not just those in the city, but also that of India.

He was seen shaking hands with a gentleman sitting to his right on the local train. Rahul Gandhi, the "outsider" had turned "insider" in a city where he took the battle straight to the enemy camp of Shiv Sena leader, Bal Thackeray.

It was a political coup of sorts. The Sena had targeted him on the "outsider" issue and dared him to visit Mumbai. Rahul hit back and his Mumbai local ride knocked the wind out of the Sena's sails.

The Mumbai episode was a story of Rahul's spontaneity and out-of-the-box thinking.

A scion of the Nehru-Gandhi family, Rahul was born on June 19, 1970 to Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi. He is the older of the two children, the younger one being his sister Priyanka.

In this photo, Rahul's grandmother Indira Gandhi is seen with his mother Sonia and sister Priyanka. (Photo Credit: Pressbrief.in)

Rahul attended Modern School in New Delhi before entering Doon School, also his father's alma mater, from 1981-83. He was later home-schooled for security reasons.

Starting university at Harvard, he got his B.A. from Rollins College, Florida in 1994 and went on to do an M.Phil. in Development Studies in 1995 from Trinity College, Cambridge.

During the lifetime of Indira Gandhi, both Rajiv and Sonia remained low key. Consequently their children too remained out of the public eye. But the assassination of Indira in 1984 suddenly brought the national focus on this young family, in a way perhaps they had never imagined. In this file photo taken on November 3, 1984, Rajiv Gandhi is seen with his wife Sonia and daughter Priyanka at the cremation of Indira Gandhi. (Photo: AFP)

The tragedy of his mother's untimely end thrust Rajiv Gandhi, a commercial pilot with Indian Airlines, into the limelight as the country's Prime Minister. In this file photo, Rahul Gandhi, accompanied by his father Rajiv Gandhi, mother Sonia and sister Priyanka is seen offering prayers at Shakti Sthal, Indira Gandhi's cremation site, on October 31, 1989 in New Delhi. (Photo: AFP)

Tragedy once again struck the Gandhi family when Rajiv was assassinated by LTTE activists on May 21, 1991 while campaigning in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu. In this picture, Rahul, just 21 at that time, is seen lighting his father's funeral pyre.

Years later, when Rahul's sister Priyanka decided to visit Nalini Sriharan, the only surviving member of the Rajiv Gandhi assassination squad, at the Vellore jail in Tamil Nadu, Rahul told mediapersons that the trauma of his father's brutal killing was now a thing of the past. "We have been brought up not to harbour [thoughts of] hatred or violence," he was quoted as saying.

In this picture taken on May 24, 1991, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka and Rahul, turn to chanting mourners during the funeral of Rajiv Gandhi at Shakti Sthal on the banks of the River Yamuna in New Delhi. (Photo: AFP)

Rahul stayed away from public life for a long time after his father's death. He was spotted on a few family occasions like the February 18, 1997 marriage of his sister Priyanka Gandhi with businessman Robert Vadra. (Photo: AFP)

Then came Rahul's first brush with the country's electoral process. He left his job at a financial consultancy firm in UK and returned to India to help his mother, by then the elected Congress President prepare for the 1999 Lok Sabha elections.

Even then he was content to let Priyanka take the center stage. In this February 1, 1998 file photo, he accompanies his mother Sonia at a Congress Party election campaign rally in Amethi. His sister Priyanka can be seen exhorting the crowds to vote for the Congress Party. (Photo: AFP)

Despite his reluctance to enter active politics, Rahul's growing visibility on the campaign trail could not be ignored. In this February 13, 1998 file photo Sonia Gandhi is seen walking with her son as they arrived for an election rally. (Photo: AFP)

In 2003, there was widespread media speculation about Rahul Gandhi's imminent entry into national politics, which he did not confirm. He appeared with his mother at public events and Congress meetings. In 2004, he also traveled to Pakistan on a goodwill visit to watch the first cricket series between the countries in 14 years in a One Day International with his sister Priyanka Gandhi. (Photo: AFP)

Speculation heightened in January 2004 about his possible entry into politics when he visited his father's former constituency of Amethi. He refused to give a definitive response, stating "I am not averse to politics. I have not decided when I will enter politics and indeed, if I ever will."

In March 2004, he announced his entry into politics by declaring his intention to contest the May 2004 elections, standing from Amethi. In this March 29, 2004 file photo, Rahul Gandhi speaks to an elderly woman as she holds his hand during his visit to Jamon village near Amethi. (Photo: AFP)

At the time, this move generated surprise among political commentators, who had regarded his sister Priyanka as being the more charismatic and likely to succeed. (AFP Photo)

It generated speculation that the presence of a young member of India's most famous political family would rejuvenate the Congress party's political fortunes among India's youthful population. In his first interview to the foreign media, he portrayed himself as a uniter of the country and condemned "divisive" politics in India, saying that he would try to reduce caste and religious tensions. (AFP Photo)

His candidacy was greeted with excitement by locals, who had a long standing affinity with the family's presence in the area. He won with a landslide majority, retaining the family stronghold with a huge margin as the Congress unexpectedly defeated the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. His campaign was masterminded by his younger sister, Priyanka. In this April 23, 2004 file photo Rahul is seen sitting on a roof of a car as he shakes hands with supporters during election campaigning in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. (Photo: AFP)

In this May 15, 2004 file photo, Congress President Sonia Gandhi smiles after being given a rose by her son and newly elected Member of Parliament Rahul Gandhi during a Congress parliamentary party meeting at the Parliament House in New Delhi. Sonia confounded her political opponents by nominating Dr Manmohan Singh as India's Prime Minister, a post that many had expected her to fill after leading the Congress party to a spectacular victory in the 2004 general elections. (Photo: AFP)

Rahul was once again at his mother's side when she announced her resignation from the Lok Sabha and also as chairperson of the National Advisory Council on March 23, 2006, under the office-of-profit controversy. Sonia then vowed to seek a fresh mandate in Rae Bareli, which sent her to power in 2004.(Photo: AFP)

Since his entry into active politics, Rahul has shown a special interest in the resurgence of the Congress Party in Uttar Pradesh. He was a prominent figure in a high profile Congress campaign for the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Although the Congress won only 22 seats with 8.53% of votes, Rahul became firmly established as the next big hope of the party. In this June 19, 2007 file photo, school children are seen wearing masks on the occasion of his 37th birthday celebrations in Hyderabad. (Photo: AFP)

Rahul was appointed General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee on September 24, 2007 in a reshuffle of the party secretariat. In the same reshuffle, he was also given charge of the Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India. (Photo: AFP)

Rahul is also seen as the chief architect of the Congress Party's resounding victory in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections. He retained his Amethi constituency by defeating his nearest rival by a margin of over 333,000 votes. In these elections the Congress is said to have revived itself in Uttar Pradesh by winning 21 out of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats and the majority of the credit for this turnaround is given to Rahul Gandhi. He spoke at 125 rallies across the country in six weeks. (Photo: AFP)

Many see Rahul as the most promising among the young politicians likely to guide India in the future. In this April 27, 2009 file photo, Rahul is seen sharing the dias with another young politician and Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah during an election campaign rally at Anantnag, south of Srinagar. (Photo: AFP)

Besides being politically savvy, Rahul is also noted for his personal style that reminds many of his father. Whether a starched white kurta, natty suits, a bomber jacket or casuals, he has managed to look just right for the occasion.

Rahul has managed to look dapper even when bearded. In this July 11, 2008 photo he is seen attending the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting at Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi's house in New Delhi. (Photo: AFP)

There has also been a lot of speculation surrounding Rahul's love life. At 40, there is no sign yet that India's most eligible bachelor is willing to settle down. Way back in 2004 Rahul had talked about his Spanish girlfriend Veronique, who he had met at university in England. But his romantic relationships, if any, have by and large remained out of the public domain.