Rahul Gandhi turns 42: The Nehru-Gandhi dynasty in their 40s

New Delhi: The annual rituals marking the birthday of Rahul Gandhi, the scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty, were rather subdued this year. Gandhi had spent the greater part of 2011 touring Uttar Pradesh, trying to garner support for Congress and extending the party's rural base.

At 42, Gandhi is projected as the young face of Congress, and one who will, in time, take over the reins of the party from his Italian-born mother Sonia. Anointed as the 'Prime Minister-in-waiting' by the media, Gandhi is expected to eventually become prime minister if Congress and its allies retained power in national elections due in 2014.

Rahul comes from an illustrious family of freedom fighters and politicians that have over generations passed on the baton of power from father to son. Son of Sonia and Rajiv Gandhi, grandson of Indira Gandhi and great-grandson of Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first prime minister, Rahul Gandhi boasts of ancestors who shaped a nation's destiny in their 40s, achieving towering heights.

Rahul Gandhi, son of former Prime Minister of India Rajiv Gandhi turns a year older on June 19.
Rahul Gandhi with his mother Sonia Gandhi and grandmother Indira Gandhi.
A family photo of Rahul Gandhi with his mother Sonia, sister Priyanka, uncle Sanjay, father Rajiv and grandmother Indira.
AP
Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi offer their floral tributes at the memorial to Rajiv Gandhi on his 50th birthday in New Delhi on August 20, 1995.
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Sonia Gandhi (R) and her son Rahul Gandhi wave to the crowd during an election campaign rally for the Congress Party in the northern Indian city of on Faridabad in Haryana state February 12, 1998.
Reuters
Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul wave to supporters during an election campaign rally for the Congress Party in the eastern Indian city of Calcutta on February 5, 1998.
Reuters
Sonia Gandhi talks to her son Rahul before addressing a rally in Bombay on February 22, 1998.
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Priyanka, Sonia and Rahul pray for Rajiv Gandhi on his eighth death anniversary. (1999 photo)
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Rahul Gandhi, son of Congress Party President Sonia Gandhi (2nd R) wears a traditional turban as he waves to supporters during a rally in Pune on September 8, 1999.
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Priyanka Vadra (L) and her brother Rahul Gandhi sit as they wait for tea at a roadside tea stall in Amethi on January 21, 2004. Two decades after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, her grandchildren including Priyanka, are stepped into India's hurly-burly political scene.
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Rahul Gandhi smiling after his mother filed her nomination papers in Rae Bareli, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on April 6, 2004.
Reuters
Rahul Gandhi (2nd L), son of Congress party president Sonia Gandhi, accompanied by his mother Sonia (L) and sister Priyanka Vadra (2nd R) reads his nomination papers before filing them in Sultanpur, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on March 30, 2004.
Reuters
Rahul Gandhi walks towards his car with a security guard after his two-day official visit to Afghanistan, at New Delhi's airport on August 29, 2005.
Reuters
India's lawmaker Rahul Gandhi (R) speaks to villagers during an election campaign in the northern Indian city of Rae Bareli May 5, 2006.
Reuters
Rahul Gandhi (L) and his sister Priyanka Gandhi celebrate in the northern Indian city of Rae Bareli on May 11, 2006.
Reuters
Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh (L) smiles as Rahul Gandhi watches during their meeting in New Delhi on September 26, 2007.
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Rahul Gandhi eats at a community kitchen after paying homage at the Golden temple, the holiest Sikh shrine, in the northern Indian city of Amritsar on September 22, 2008.
Reuters
Rahul Gandhi stands next to Tata Group's new 'Nano' car after its launch at the 9th Auto Expo in New Delhi on January 10, 2008.
Reuters
Rahul Gandhi talks with cricketer Sachin Tendulkar as they watch Rajiv Gandhi Rural Cricket Tournament in the northern Indian city of Amethi on June 2, 2008.
Reuters
Kashmir's Chief Minister Omar Abdullah (R) and Rahul Gandhi, son of chief of India's ruling Congress party Sonia Gandhi, speak with a girl during an election campaign rally at Vijaypur, Jammu on April 14, 2009.
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Rahul Gandhi wears a Japi, a traditional bamboo sun shade, during an election campaign rally at Kharupetia on April 20, 2009.
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Rahul Gandhi smiles after wearing a turban during an election campaign rally in Mohali in the northern Indian state of Punjab on May 9, 2009.
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Rahul Gandhi sits with a child during an election campaign rally at Sivaganga, about 500 km from the southern Indian city of Chennai on May 8, 2009.
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Rahul Gandhi greets a party worker in the northern Indian city of Lucknow on August 6, 2009.
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Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak (L) shakes hands with Rahul Gandhi before their meeting in New Delhi on January 21, 2010.
Reuters
Rahul speaks with US President Barack Obama at a state dinner at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on November 8, 2010.
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Chief of India's Congress Party Sonia Gandhi (L) and her son MP Rahul Gandhi watch the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011 semi-final match between India and Pakistan in Mohali on March 30, 2011.
Reuters
Rahul Gandhi, a lawmaker and son of India's ruling Congress party Chief Sonia Gandhi, waves to his supporters during an election campaign rally at Unnao district in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh on January 28, 2012.
Reuters
Rahul Gandhi speaks with the media in New Delhi on March 6, 2012. Rahul Gandhi failed spectacularly to deliver a promised comeback for his Congress party in crucial state elections, casting fresh doubt on his capacity to become the next member of a storied dynasty to lead the country.
Reuters
Rahul Gandhi walks with his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadera after speaking to the media in New Delhi on March 6, 2012.
Reuters
Let's wait and watch whether Rahul Gandhi meets his party's expectations in future or not.
Reuters

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Rahul Gandhi turns 42: The dynasty in their 40s

Gandhi is projected as the young face of Congress and expected to soon take over the reins of the party.

Rahul's failure to deliver for the party in Uttar Pradesh in the Assembly elections has raised questions about his capabilities ahead of 2014 elections. BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi had once mocked his political track record, saying that in nearly eight years as a lawmaker Rahul's most notable contribution in the Lok Sabha was a two-page statement on corruption that he read out.

Rahul did mature as a public speaker on the campaign trail, building the confidence to deliver lengthy and forceful off-the-cuff speeches. He looked increasingly comfortable in the dusty plains of Uttar Pradesh, addressing tens of thousands in the colloquial Hindi of the region, and clambering down from rickety stages to mix with the people. Here is a brief summary of the political lives of the other members of the Nehru-Gandhi family in their 40s.

Motilal Nehru: The patriarch of the Nehru dynasty and the father of Jawaharlal Nehru served as the Congress President twice. A lawyer of repute and an active member of the freedom movement, Motilal at the age of 48 appear in the Privy Council of Great Britain, a rare honour at that time.

Jawaharlal Nehru: In 1929, at the age of 40, Nehru had already emerged as the successor to Mahatma Gandhi and the political face of the Indian Freedom Movement. In the same year, he introduced a resolution demanding complete national independence, which, after being opposed by Gandhi, was redrafted into one which asked the British to grant dominion status to India within two years. During the Lahore session in December, 1929, Nehru assumed the presidency of the Congress party. It was at this time that he introduced a successful resolution calling for complete independence. He hoisted the tricolour upon the banks of the Ravi in Lahore and read out a pledge of independence.

He was arrested in 1930 after addressing a huge gathering and charged with the breach of the salt law and sentenced to six months in jail. He is credited with breathing new life into the civil disobedience movement.

Feroze Gandhi: At 40, Feroze Gandhi, the grandfather of Rahul Gandhi, was the member of the provincial parliament and won independent India's first general elections in 1952 from the Rae Bareli constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

Indira Gandhi: Rahul's illustrious grandmother assisted her Prime Minister father Jawaharlal Nehru throughout her 40s. At the age of 47 she was appointed a member of the Rajya Sabha and became a member of Lal Bahadur Shastri's cabinet as Minister of Information and Broadcasting.

Rajiv Gandhi: Rahul Gandhi's father Rajiv became the youngest Prime Minister of India when he took office at the age of 40. (With additional inputs from Reuters and date references from Wikipedia)

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