rahul gandhi early life

Gandhi was born in Delhi on 19 June 1970,[3] as the first of the two children of Rajiv Gandhi, who later became the Prime Minister of India, and Italian-born Sonia Gandhi, who later became President of Indian National Congress, and as the grandson of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. His paternal grandfather Feroze Gandhi was a Parsi from Gujarat.[4] He is also the great-grandson of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. Priyanka Vadra is his younger sister[5] and Robert Vadra is his brother-in-law. He identifies himself as a Hindu Brahmin.[6]

Gandhi attended St. Columba's School, Delhi[7] before entering The Doon School in Dehradun, Uttarakhand from 1981 to 1983. Meanwhile, his father had joined politics and became the Prime Minister on 31 October 1984 when Indira Gandhi was assassinated. Due to the security threats faced by Indira Gandhi's family from Sikh extremists, Rahul Gandhi and his sister, Priyanka were home-schooled thereafter.[8]

Gandhi joined St. Stephen's College, Delhi in 1989 for his undergraduate education but moved to Harvard University after he completed the first year examinations.[9] In 1991, after Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers (LTTE)[10] during an election rally, he shifted to Rollins College in Florida, USA, due to security concerns and obtained his B.A. in 1994.[11] During his time at Rollins, he assumed the pseudonym Raul Vinci and his identity was known only to the university officials and security agencies.[9][12] He further went on to obtain an M.Phil from Trinity College, Cambridge in 1995.[13]

After graduation, Rahul Gandhi worked at the Monitor Group, a management consulting firm, in London.[14] In 2002, he was one of the directors of Mumbai-based technology outsourcing firm Backops Services Private Ltd.[15] While in 2004, Gandhi had told the press that he had a Spanish girlfriend, an architect, living in Venezuela, whom he had met while studying in England.[16][17] In 2013, he suggested that he may not get married.[18]

rahul gandhi

he is the President of the Indian National Congress and serves such additional offices as the Chairperson of the Indian Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India. A member of the Indian Parliament, Gandhi represents the constituency of Amethi, Uttar Pradesh in the 16th Lok Sabha.

Gandhi stayed away from public sphere for much of his childhood and early youth; he attained primary education in New Delhi and Dehra Doon but was later home schooled because of security concerns. He later attended Rollins College under a pseudonym, his identity being known only to a select few including university officials and security agencies. After obtaining degrees in International Relations and Development Studies at the universities of Rollins and Cambridge, Gandhi worked at the Monitor Group, a management consulting firm in London. He established the Mumbai-based technology outsourcing firm, Backops Services Private Ltd.

Gandhi entered politics in 2004 and successfully contested the general elections held that year from Amethi, a seat that was earlier held by his father; he won again from the constituency in 2009 and 2014. Amidst calls from Congress party veterans for his greater involvement in party politics and national government, Gandhi was elected Congress Vice-President in 2013, having served as the General Secretary previously. Gandhi led Congress' campaign in the 2014 Indian general elections; the party suffered its worst electoral result in its history, winning only 44 seats compared to 206 seats won previously in the 2009 general election.

Gandhi took over as the president of the Congress in December 2017. He is also a Trustee of Rajiv Gandhi Foundation and Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust.