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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 NEW DELHI 001350 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PREL PINR KDEM IN
SUBJECT: SPOTLIGHT ON RAHUL GANDHI AFTER 2009 ELECTION 
 
REF: A. NEW DELHI 1072 
     ¶B. NEW DELHI 1226 
 
¶1.  (SBU) The 2009 Indian parliamentary election was largely 
seen as a "coming-of-age" for 39-year old Congress Party 
General Secretary, Rahul Gandhi.  Throughout the campaign, 
media cast a spotlight on Rahul's every move -- from visiting 
almost every state to address public rallies, to gambling on 
Congress's "going it alone" in the Hindi heartland, to 
fielding a select group of youngsters for political office. 
As played in the media, Rahul and his cohort of fresh-faced 
MPs represented the future of Indian politics, embodying the 
"hopes and aspirations" of a very young India where 65 
percent of the population is under the age of 35.  Amid the 
clamor and excitement surrounding Rahul's rapid rise, many 
expected him to seek a more prominent position as a Cabinet 
Minister in the new government.  Instead, Rahul chose to 
continue party building efforts, with a particular focus in 
reviving Congress youth wings nationwide.  While his work 
will enhance transparency and professionalism in the party, 
it will also create a coterie of political loyalists to 
support Rahul as prime minister in the near future.  End 
Summary. 
 
2009: The Son Also Rises 
--- 
 
¶2.  (U) Rahul Gandhi, Congress Party General Secretary and 
scion of India's most famous political dynasty, emerged from 
2009 elections a political star.  He was the Congress Party's 
lead campaigner on the election trail -- logging in over 
54,000 miles, visiting almost every state and addressing more 
public rallies than other Congress bigwigs including his 
mother and Congress President, Sonia Gandhi.   Rahul's 
strategy to "go it alone" in states such as Uttar Pradesh and 
Bihar has been credited by analysts as one of the factors 
that contributed to the Congress' election sweep (Ref. A). 
Moreover, he focused attention to injecting new blood into 
Congress, India's 124-year old "grand old party."  In the 
run-up to elections, Rahul set out to democratize the 
functioning of the party's youth wings, the Indian Youth 
Congress (IYC) and the National Students Union of India 
(NSUI), and to project new leaders under the age of 40 into 
mainstream politics.  His efforts helped the party attain 
considerable success in the 2009 elections, with media 
reporting widely that 75 candidates out of the 125 
constituencies where Rahul campaigned won Lok Sabha seats. 
 
Long Time Coming 
--- 
 
¶3.  (U) Political analysts have long been anticipating Rahul 
Gandhi's emergence on the Indian political scene.  In 2004, 
Rahul's  Lok Sabha win from the Amethi constituency in Uttar 
Pradesh generated buzz among the political chattering 
classes, many of whom regarded his sister Priyanka as being 
the more charismatic and likely to succeed.  Many believed 
that Rahul, the son of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, 
would reinvigorate the aging Congress Party's political 
fortunes among India's youth, where 65 percent of its 1.15 
billion total population are under the age of 35 (Ref. B). 
Mid-way through his first term in office, Rahul's public 
image began to take shape as the media portrayed him as a 
"unifier" who condemned those Indian politicians who mined up 
caste and religious tensions for political gain. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In 2007, Rahul stepped into the national spotlight 
as a Congress head campaigner for the state assembly election 
in Uttar Pradesh (UP), India's largest state.  Despite 
Rahul's efforts to revive Congress units in UP, the party 
suffered a crippling loss to the caste-based Bahujan Samaj 
Party winning only 22 out of 402 seats.   In the aftermath of 
the state elections, Rahul faced mounting criticism with 
political opposition and local media characterizing him as a 
dilettante who was not "ready" for prime time politics.  An 
influential group of Congress veterans, however, maintained 
 
NEW DELHI 00001350  002 OF 003 
 
 
the UP election was a "formative" experience that has better 
prepared Rahul to take a more active role in the 
organization.   In September 2007, at the age of 37, he was 
appointed General Secretary in charge of Congress youth wings 
the IYC and NSUI, further fueling wide-spread speculation 
that Sonia Gandhi was grooming her son for the prime 
minister's seat. 
 
Re-inventing India's Grand Old Party 
--- 
 
¶5.  (SBU) The Indian National Congress has run India's 
government for most of the years since 1947, with Rahul's 
father, grandmother and great-grandfather all serving as 
prime ministers.  To rejuvenate the left-leaning party ahead, 
 he set a goal that 30 percent of parliamentary candidates 
for 2009 elections should be 40-years old or younger.  Over a 
year before polls, Rahul and his Youth Congress cohorts 
launched the "talent show" initiative to identify 
up-and-coming leaders.  In the process, the team short-listed 
and interviewed 18 to 40-year old candidates for Youth 
Congress or NSUI leadership positions.  Youth Congress 
President, Ashok Tanwar, told us that the objective was to 
give young leaders a platform to "unleash their energy in the 
political, economic and social sectors."  Tanwar claimed that 
Rahul puts in eight-nine hours a day specifically for 
Congress youth programs, sometimes working till the early 
morning hours. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Youth Congress national spokesperson, Pardeep 
Kumar, claimed that the talent show initiative has helped the 
party attain considerable success during the 2009 election, 
in which eight out of ten candidates fielded by Rahul won 
seats.  The party's efforts were largely focused on the 
Punjab, where two out of three Punjab Youth Congress (PYC) 
candidates won seats: former PYC President Vijay Inder 
Singla, 36, from Sangrur; and current PYC President Ravneet 
Singh Bittu, from Anandpur Sahib. Punjab was also the testing 
ground for electing PYC President and Vice President, 
positions which were previously appointed by Congress leaders 
in Delhi.  Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, according to party 
contacts, are next on Rahul's agenda using the PYC model. 
Earlier this year, the Youth Congress launched a month-long 
membership drive in Guarat where organizational polls to the 
youth wing are currently under way, and Tamil Nadu is next. 
Rahul also plans to start touring these states later this 
year-the beginning of a campaign that will gain in intensity 
and culminate in 2011 in Tamil Nadu and 2012 in Gujarat when 
these two states go to polls.  Pardeep projects that a 
"silent revolution" would become more visible in two-three 
years when young faces will be the forefront of a "totally 
new organization." 
 
Team Rahul 
--- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Rahul's transition from privileged scion to key 
political player has been practically aided and abetted by 
his trusted team - a judicious mix of experienced Congress 
hands and young professionals.  Rahul's closest aide and "Man 
Friday" is Kanishka Singh, known as "K," who is the son of 
former Foreign Secretary and current Governor of Rajasthan, 
S.K. Singh.  "K" has a MBA from Wharton School of Business 
worked as a  Wall Street banker and World Bank analyst before 
  joining Rahul's team in 2005.  "K" was instrumental in 
focusing Rahul's campaign on generational change and infusing 
new energy into Congress base organizations.  What followed 
was the clarion call for "internal democracy" in youth 
organizations, contacts indicated.   Jyotiraditya Singh, AICC 
secretary and newly appointed Minister of State for Commerce 
and Industry, was assigned with the task of implementing 
Rahul's commitment to elections in Youth Congress state 
units.  Another key aide is Meenakshi Natarajan, who, armed 
with a M.A. in Biochemistry and a law degree, led NSUI 
elections nationwide.  Ashok Tanwar, IYC President and 
first-time MP from Sirsa, Haryana, oversaw Youth Congress 
 
NEW DELHI 00001350  003 OF 003 
 
 
organizational changes nationwide. 
 
Comment: Trial Run for Rahul 
--- 
 
¶8.  (SBU) In 2009 elections, the Congress Party had the 
obvious edge attracting youth in Rahul Gandhi, the 39-year 
old heir apparent to the Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty who 
emerged as a youth vote-catcher in recent months.  Analysts 
see Rahul's rapid rise, backed by a group of young leaders, 
as a Congress message that there is no dearth of dynamic 
younger leaders in the party-that it has more aces in its 
pocket than the opposition.  For others, it is a sign that 
Congress is preparing for Rahul's eventual accession to the 
prime ministership; his father and grandmother were prime 
ministers, his grandfather was India's first Prime Minister 
and, for many, Rahul's rise to prime minister is imminent and 
destined.  End Comment. 
 
 
 
BURLEIGH