5th generation in polls fray

First, Rahul has entered the rough and tumble of Indian politics at a time when her Italy-born mother and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is under attack from ruling BJP-led NDA is flogging the issue of her foreign origin saying no such person should be allowed to hold the high office of prime minister or the president.

Secondly, the Congress, say political observers, is also mindful of the fact that a section of the opposition is also uncomfortable about Sonia's foreign origin vis-à

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-vis her credentials to hold the office of prime minister in the event of her party returning to power.

Rahul's candidature for the polls to the Gandhi family pocket-borough Amethi, which her mother had won in 1999, in the most populous state of Uttar Pradesh is widely expected to provide the much-needed boost to the party in Uttar Pradesh, a state which sends the highest number of members (80) to Lok Sabha and holds the key to the success of the party to regain power at the Centre.

Thirdly, Rahul's nomination comes at a time when Congress is in dire straits in Uttar Pradesh with a deep erosion in its traditional vote bank of Brahmins, Dalits and Muslims who have moved away to BJP, Samajwadi Party led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party which have emerged as dominant political forces in the state over the last two decades.

It also comes in the backdrop of Congress' failure to firm up alliances with either Samajwadi Party or BSP in a bid to shore up its electoral fortunes in Uttar Pradesh where the real big battle of Indian elections is to be fought.

The announcement of Rahul's taking the plunge was greeted by Congress rank and file in Uttar Pradesh where party men expect him and his sister Priyanka to counter the formidable rivals like Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mayawati.

The Congress also hopes that Rahul's presence will attract the young generation of voters.

Rahul's nomination not only extends the hold of Nehru-Gandhi family legacy in Congress and Indian political scene but also positions him as the heir apparent to the party's leadership and possibly to the post of prime minister, say the observers.