So far his secular credentials were not put to test but on Monday he treaded a politically sensitive path and risked his credibility when he was tendentious enough to claim before the Muslim majority in Muzzafarnagar that if the Gandhi family would have been ruling (instead of P V Narsimha Rao) in 1992, the Babri Masjid would not have been allowed to be demolished.
Without any ceremony or even any rites of passage, he simply disowned Narsimha Rao, while polishing up his family's prestige.
His critics and media are asking if this is dynastic arrogance or ignorance of history.
They say that in February 1986 it was his father Rajiv Gandhi who ordered the removal of locks on the structure of Babri Majsid to allow pujas of Ram lalla.
Nobody is sure if the alienated Muslims of UP feel confident to take his pledges to their heart.
He may be urbane but he feels for the marginalised people, he would like us to believe.
Will he articulate an inclusive political platform sufficient enough to catch the attention of the Dalits, who have drifted away from the Congress? Dalits identify more with Bahujan Samaj Party's Mayawati because she has grown from within.
Mayawati has the unstinted support of Dalits but Rahul Gandhi claimed that alliance with the BSP in 1996 was a mistake!
Also see: Graphic: The 7 phases of UP polls
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