Fifth generation, first person

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">AMETHI: For the large assemblage in Amethi, covering the Gandhis has been a bitter-sweet experience. <br /><br />On the one hand, there''s the family''s magic touch with the <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">aam janata</span>, which makes for awesome colour and great copy. On the other, it''s nothing less than a nightmare to chase them for a quote.<br /><br />The Gandhis connect with the masses, but disconnect with the media.<br /><br />Rahul Gandhi''s political debut was everything a journo could have asked for and for more. <br /><br />It was a photo-op to beat all photo-ops: Mother Sonia and children Priyanka and Rahul in a virtuoso joint performance that had the crowds asking for an encore. Again and again. Their effect on the villagers was mesmeric. <br /><br />For some, it was as if the Gods had descended on earth. And they said as much.<br /><br />Rahul, understandably, was the main attraction. Frenzied crowds jostled him, pulled at him, touched him over and over. Everybody wanted a bit of the boy. <br /><br />It was mess frenzy, the like of which the media had not seen in a long, long time. Not even for Rajiv Gandhi, insisted long-time clan watchers.<br /><br />And yet, it was a different story at the Munshiganj guest house, where, after Rahul''s nomination, the Gandhi parivar halted for a day. The press, national and international, was out in strength. <br /><br />Yet, for the better part of Monday, they languished outside the gates, with absolutely no word from inside. By Tuesday afternoon, the journos had had it with the family. <br /><br />Some shouted slogans, others issued dire threates to the SPG, and yet others simply turned back to leave.<br /><br />But the anger was momentary, it vanished once Rahul came out, accompanied by Priyanka and Sonia. Mother Sonia apologised for the mismagement. Rahul dimpled sweetly and said sorry. <br /><br />The boy looked so stricken and vulnerable that media melted. And more so when he held out his palms to show the bruises he had sustained from shaking hands with the milling crowds. It was time to forgive and forget.<br /><br />Sonia described Rahul''s political entry as an emotional journey. She said she had come with her husband in 1980 to Sultanpur: "So when I watched Rahul filing his nomination, those memories came flooding back."<br /><br />As for Rahul, once he got talking, it was as if the floodgates had opened. He wouldn''t budge even to Sonia''s, "Rahul, we should leave." <br /><br />Rahul spoke about everything. About himself, his plunge into politics, his idea of politics, his refusal to fear the prospect of assassination, his quarrel with the media over the injustice done to his father and finally, about the foreigner campaign against him and his mother.<br /><br />But first things first. He wasn''t being deliberately rude to the press, nor was he reserved and shy as they had made him out to be. <br /><br />"You guys have this opinion about me. But I''m not shy or reserved. I want to focus on Amethi and I don''t want to distract myself unnecessarily. That is why I''m hesitant to talk to the national media. Yes, a few days back I thought I would be uncomfortable in politics, but you won''t be if you believe in yourself and the people."<br /><br />And no, he wasn''t going to campaign outside Amethi: "Amethi is my focus."<br /><br />So did Rahul see himself as heir apparent, a product of India''s oldest political dynasty? "No, not at all. However, why should I be defensive for belonging to a political family? I''m not a criminal''s son. My grandmother was PM, my father was PM. They did good things for the country." <br /><br />But why the decision now to join politics? "This is an assumption you all have made about me because, I admit, I did not speak to you. But I was a private individual then. I made the decision long ago, while traveling on the train carrying my father''s body. I saw a lot of people running after the train. And I thought I must do something for the people who loved my father. And yes, my father was great. He is my hero."<br /><br />What if destiny repeated itself? "I don''t fear for my life. I used to tell my father that politics was dangerous, but he said that was his life."<br /><br />As for Brand Rahul''s politics: "One thing I''ve noticed is that politicians have a problem with truth, they have a problem with saying things as they are. If you hide the truth from the people, you assume they are stupid. But there is great intelligence among people, not just in cities, but in the villages, in Amethi too. You should listen to them."<br /><br />On the Congress''s steady decline: "I will not claim that I have a magic potion. My job is to be honest. About being targeted by critics: "It is my pleasure to be targeted. But I will not target others. What was done to my father for 17 years was unfair. A great man was destroyed and the media had a role in it; it is apparent now that they were irresponsible. You must play a role for India, not destroy good men". <br /><br />And finally, on the foreigners'' issue: "When Narendra Modi targets my mother and now us, we know we are on the right track."</div> </div>