Rahul Gandhi gets rousing reception at Amethi

Rahul Gandhi talks with an Indian village woman (R) at Jagdishpur village in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh yesterday. Rahul Gandhi, son of Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi and assassinated former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, is to contest for the Congress Party in the forthcoming elections from Amethi. PHOTO: AFP

A sea of supporters cried "Long live Rahul Gandhi" as the 33-year-old financial consultant who bears a strong resemblance to his father emerged from his car flashing a dimpled smile in the long-time family-held seat of Amethi.

Hundreds of motorcycle riders wearing the Congress Party's saffron, green and white caps and flags fanned out to accompany his motorcade as it entered the constituency under banners saying, "Welcome our next Prime Minister".

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Villagers scrambled onto rooftops to shower him with rose petals and shout greetings as Rahul drove through the sprawling constituency's dusty roads, stopping at one village after another.

"It's a great feeling to be here," said Rahul, one of the so-called Gen-Next candidates of the once-mighty Congress party, now facing an uphill battle to unseat the ruling Hindu nationalist-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alliance.

"I'll carry on the work my father Rajiv did here. I promise to live up to my father's dreams," he said.

He often stopped the convoy to talk to labourers, embrace children and drink tea as huge crowds pressed forward.

Rahul was on a whistle-stop tour of the seat once held by his grandmother, former prime minister Indira Gandhi, assassinated by Sikh separatists in 1984.

The constituency in the electorally pivotal state of Uttar Pradesh also returned his father to parliament three times -- in 1984, 1989 and 1991 -- the year he was killed by a female suicide bomber.

Rahul, surrounded by heavy security due to the assassinations of his father and grandmother, told reporters the response to his political debut was "overwhelming".

The Congress, out of office since 1996, announced earlier this month it would field Rahul in what analysts say is an attempt to revive the party's fortunes in elections due to be held in stages starting on April 20.

"I've seen several generations of Nehrus (former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru) and Gandhis," said one elderly villager, Ram Praful, now in his 90s. "I've now come to see Rahul and we have a lot of hope. We will not let the sacrifices made by the family go in vain."