Asia | The last Gandhi?

Gandhi v Modi: crunch time for Congress as India prepares to vote

The Economist joins the most prominent opposition politician on the campaign trail

Illustrated portrait of Rahul Gandhi
Illustration: Fede Yankelevich
|Nashik

Rahul Gandhi seems angrier now. For years, even close friends wondered if he had the drive to follow in the footsteps of his father, grandmother and great-grandfather, all of whom were Indian prime ministers. When he fronted the Congress party’s ill-fated campaign for a general election in 2014, his speeches, often in faltering Hindi, mostly fell flat. Five years later, he led his party to another bruising defeat, even losing his own parliamentary seat in the long-time family stronghold of Amethi, in northern India. Soon afterwards he resigned as party chief.

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This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “The last Gandhi?”

From the April 20th 2024 edition

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