Many tales have been floated about Rahul Gandhi from time to time. The campaign has been so systematic that it has at times led even responsible people to believe gross untruths about the fifth generation scion of India's most famous political family.
A former Uttar Pradesh chief minister once claimed he was unable to initiate action against a psychiatrist at Lucknow's King George Medical College simply because he had been given to believe that the doctor was treating Rahul Gandhi. It is another matter that the doctor eventually had to pay for spreading the canard, but it allowed him to get away with canard for quite a while.
Rahul entered politics relatively late, but now that he is here, he insists he is in for the long haul.
Already his plunge into electoral politics has killed some of the stories about him. "I am aware how important it is to be available to your constituents," he told Contributing Special Correspondent Sharat Pradhan in an exclusive chat in Amethi last week.
What is on your list of priorities now?
My first priority is Amethi and its people, who have sent me [to the Lok Sabha] as their representative.
But Amethi is your family bastion; you would have won anyway from here.
I am firmly of the view that every member of Parliament must first sincerely devote himself to his constituency. According to a survey that we [the Congress] got conducted, the bulk of the sitting MPs who lost the recent poll were those who spent the least time in their constituencies and did not care about their constituents.
Do you believe an MP can really transform his constituency if he wants?
I do not believe in making any sweeping remarks. An MP may not be in a position to transform his constituency because there are so many factors and issues involved. But the least that we can do is to make oneself available to them on their soil. If there are constraints, they can be shared honestly with the constituents, but they must see that their representative is making sincere effort in that direction. Even the annual constituency fund of Rs 2 crore (Rs 2 million) is not enough to satisfy the demands and needs of the people; sure, it requires a skilful tightrope walk.
Are you aware of the extent of pilferage out of the constituency fund?
In fact, I have already begun to think of ways and means to curb this pilferage, at least in my constituency.
Have you drawn up any plans for your constituency, which is essentially rural and extremely low on development?
I have certain things in mind and hope to carry these out. These include an education plan whereby I propose to ensure that every youth in my constituency attains fundamental literacy. The programme had already begun with the help of Pratham, an NGO. I wish to enhance the computer-training programme launched by my mother, who had already set up two such centres under the banner of the Rajiv Gandhi Computer Shiksha Kendra. We would like to establish three more such centres to impart free computer education to students coming from poor families. The Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan provided affiliation to our centres, which were provided with the most modern systems.
What are your other target areas?
My next focus will be on health, for which I have plans to enhance the number of mobile health vans, which can reach out to people in the remotest of areas. We are also establishing contact with NRI doctors to volunteer their services for two weeks in a year when we could hold special camps for super speciality treatment, including major surgeries.
What about the industrial units that have shut in Amethi over the years?
I am in the process of asking some experts to carry out a quick study on the viability of such units. Personally I am convinced that quite a few of them could be revived. So we will certainly revive all those which can be put back on the rails while we will replace others with such industries that could be more suitable for this region. I would like to focus more on agro-based industries.
Despite the strength of your family name behind you, do you feel any kind of handicap?
Well, my inexperience, which I frankly admit. Of late there has been a lot of talk about the need for youth in politics; but let me tell you, if youth has certain advantages, it also suffers from a few handicaps -- inexperience being the biggest. What we need is an ideal blending of the views expressed by the old and experienced and the ideas thrown up by less experienced youth.
Do you have any plan up your sleeve for the revival of the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, which has a substantial quota of 80 lawmakers in the Lok Sabha and where your party could win only a paltry nine seats?
Yes, we have to do something about putting the Congress back to where it stood in this state 15 years ago. But revival is not possible from the top alone; it has to be brought into effect from the grassroot level -- the polling booth worker -- and for that we need to do a lot of concrete spadework, which cannot be done overnight. We must give it some time and go about it in a slow and steady manner right from scratch. And I am sure we will succeed.
Were you aware that your mother would say no to the prime ministership?
Both my sister and I knew it from 1998. My mother never hankered after any post. From day one she never had any aspirations of becoming prime minister. All that she wanted to do was to provide the Congress party a leadership that could steer the power to oust communal forces, which were gaining ground in the country. And once she achieved her goal, that's all.
How do you feel when your supporters refer to you as the 'next best prime minister'?
Please do not take it as any kind of arrogance, but having seen enough prime ministers in the family -- my father, my grandmother and, of course, my great grandfather -- it is not such a big deal. In fact, I often wonder why should you need a post to serve the nation. I will have to tell my supporters to refrain from making such hyperbolic references about me. Let me remain what I am.
Image: Uttam Ghosh