Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Rajiv Gandhi (Hindi pronunciation: [ˈraːɦʊl raːdʒiːʋ ˈɡaːndʱiː] ^ⓘ; born 19 June 1970) is an Indian politician. A member of the Indian National Congress (INC), he is currently serving as the 12th leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha and as the member of the Lok Sabha for Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh, since June 2024. He previously represented the constituency of Wayanad, Kerala, from 2019 to 2024, and Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, from 2004 to 2019. Gandhi served as the party president of the Indian National Congress from December 2017 to July 2019.

A member of the Nehru–Gandhi political family, he spent his early years between Delhi and Dehradun, remaining largely outside the public sphere during his childhood and early youth. He received primary education in New Delhi and then attended The Doon School. However, due to security concerns, he was later home-schooled. Gandhi commenced his undergraduate degree at St. Stephen's College before moving to Harvard University. Following his father's assassination and subsequent security concerns, he moved to Rollins College in Florida, completing his degree in 1994. After earning a M.Phil. from Cambridge, Gandhi initiated his professional career with the Monitor Group, a management consulting firm in London. Soon thereafter, he returned to India and founded a technology outsourcing firm based in Mumbai. He ventured into politics in the 2000s, leading the Indian Youth Congress and National Students Union of India, while also being a trustee of the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust.

Gandhi led the Congress party during the 2014 and 2019 general elections, where the party experienced significant defeats, securing 44 and 52 seats, respectively. Ahead of the 2024 Indian general elections, Gandhi spearheaded the Bharat Jodo Yatra and the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, contributing to the INC winning 99 seats and regaining the status of Official Opposition for the first time in a decade. Gandhi won the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency in the 2024 elections and was nominated to serve as Leader of the Opposition.

Gandhi was born on 19 June 1970 at Holy Family Hospital in Delhi. He was the first of two children born to Rajiv Gandhi, who later served as the 6th prime minister of India, and Sonia Gandhi, who went on to become the president of the Indian National Congress. As the grandson of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, his lineage is deeply rooted in Indian political history. His paternal grandfather, Feroze Gandhi, hailed from Gujarat and was of Parsi descent. Furthermore, he is the great-grandson of India's inaugural prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Gandhi completed his elementary education at St. Columba's School in New Delhi. He then attended The Doon School in Dehradun (an elite all-boys' boarding school, also the alma mater of his father, Rajiv Gandhi) from 1981 to 1983. At Doon, Gandhi studied alongside notable contemporaries, including former Congress members Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitin Prasada. Following the assassination of Indira Gandhi by Sikhs in her personal guard on 31 October 1984, his father entered politics and became the 6th prime minister of India. Due to security threats from Sikh extremists, Gandhi and his sister Priyanka were home-schooled, taking examinations under the supervision of teachers. Spending their childhood away from media attention, Gandhi and his sister kept low profiles, appearing with their parents at a handful of public occasions.

Gandhi joined St. Stephen's College, Delhi, an affiliated college of the University of Delhi, in 1989 for his undergraduate education. Gandhi's academic performance in Class XII, with a score of 61 per cent in the CBSE school certificate, was perceived as not particularly strong. He gained admission to St. Stephen's College for BA (Honors) History through the sports quota, which granted a 10 per cent advantage in exam scores to promising athletes; per National Rifle Association of India testimonials, Gandhi stood 4th in the 32nd National Shooting Competition held in New Delhi from 26 December 1988 to 5 January 1989. Gandhi had finished fourth in the Centre Fire Pistol 25 M (Indian Rule) Men's civilian event with a score of 371 out of 400 points. By July 1989, Gandhi had won eight national awards. In 1991, following the assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by the LTTE during an election rally, Gandhi left St. Stephen's and moved to Harvard University. Due to security concerns, he subsequently relocated to Rollins College in Florida. He further went on to obtain an Master of Philosophy (MPhil) in Development Studies, from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1995. Following his father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi's assassination in 1991, there was a heightened threat perception to the family, those closest to Gandhi were paranoid about his safety and might have forced him to take cover under the misleading surname "Vinci".

After completing higher education, Gandhi worked at the Monitor Group, a management consulting firm set up by Michael Porter of Harvard Business School, in London for three years. In 2002, he returned to India and established his technology consultancy, Backops Services Private Ltd, in Mumbai, where he served as one of the directors of the firm. Subsequently, he founded BackOps UK, a company that secured defence contracts from foreign suppliers.

In March 2004, Gandhi announced his entry into politics by declaring that he would contest the 14th general elections from his father's former constituency of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha, India's lower house of parliament. His mother had held the seat until she transferred to the neighbouring constituency of Raebareli. When Gandhi made this announcement, it came as a surprise to political commentators, who had perceived his sister Priyanka Gandhi as the more charismatic and probable successor. It generated speculation that the presence of a young member of India's most famous political family would reinvigorate the Congress party's political fortunes among India's youthful population. In his first interview with foreign media, Gandhi 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.