Silent observer at UPA meet, Rahul opens up at tea party

Formally taking centre stage in Congress politics, general secretary Rahul Gandhi attended a meeting of the United Progressive Alliance coordination committee for the first time on Wednesday. He later invited about two dozen young MPs for a tête-à-tête over tea at his residence. The 39-year-old who addressed 120 meetings through the campaign has emerged as the face of the Congress’s success in the general election. Varghese K George reports. How the Congress won India

Formally taking centre stage in Congress politics, general secretary Rahul Gandhi attended a meeting of the United Progressive Alliance coordination committee for the first time on Wednesday.

He later invited about two dozen young MPs for a tête-à-tête over tea at his residence.

The 39-year-old who addressed 120 meetings through the campaign has emerged as the face of the Congress’s success in the general election.

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The Congress won 75 of the 120 seats where Gandhi campaigned.

Eight of the 10 candidates from the student and youth wings of the party won, many from difficult seats — such as Meenakshi Natarjan in Mandsaur in Madhya Pradesh.

With his participation in the coordination panel, Gandhi has been formally enlisted among the party’s key
strategists.

He did not speak at the UPA meeting, but interacted with the young MPs for over two hours. “He has had no opportunity to interact with some of the newly elected MPs,” said a party source. “He wanted to chat with them.”

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Manish Tiwari, Sachin Pilot, Sandeep Dikshit, Jitin Prasada, Jitendra Singh and Ashok Tanwar were among the MPs present.