During a major portion of his tour in the southern part of Karnataka, people identified him as either the grandson of Indira Gandhi or the son of Rajiv Gandhi. However, several of the youth congress leaders who travelled with him told rediff.com that slowly the people have started getting to know who Rahul is and this is thanks to this tour.
Although it is maintained that this trip was not an election campaign, it sure has done wonders for the Congress in the state, which will be facing elections in May. Prior to this visit, the Congress was more interested in postponing the polls by another six months. Following the visit by Rahul, the spirits in the Congress camp, especially among the youth, seems to be high. Youth Congress leaders say that irrespective of the impact of this visit on the forthcoming polls, this visit has sure helped them attract a young crowd who had been swaying more towards the Bharatiya Janata Party since the past couple of years.
For Rahul, the entire emphasis was on the youth of Karnataka. His car was chauffer-driven by the president of the Karnataka Pradesh Youth Congress Committee, Krishna Byre Gowda all through the tour. Apart from this, only youth Congress leaders remained close to him all through the tour. Though KPCC president Mallikarjun Kharge accompanied him all through the tour, he was almost side lined by Rahul, who made it clear that he was here to promote the youth.
Image: AICC General Secretary Rahul Gandhi during his road show at Gadge in Karnataka on Thursday.
Photograph: Atul Yadav/PTI Photo
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