said in a TV interview in 2009 during the Lok Sabha elections. In December 2009, the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi created a flutter when she said that Rahul had forced his helicopter to land in conditions of zero visibility on an airstrip in UP’s Sitapur district. Rahul was on a two-day visit to UP to add steam to the Youth Congress membership drive. ‘He had promised to meet backward class people in Sitapur,’ said Joshi. ‘Rahulji is so deeply committed about keeping his promise that, despite the delay, he persuaded the pilot to land in total darkness and zero-visibility conditions, without paying any heed to the risk to his own life,’ she announced.
Joshi’s intention was to praise Rahul and perhaps win brownie points from a leader who projects himself as a representative of the poor and the backward. But the move boomeranged. Such a declaration coming barely three months after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy had died in a helicopter crash in the Nallamala forests of Andhra Pradesh was not the kind of controversy the Congress wanted. An inquiry committee was already looking into what had caused the crash that cost the Party a popular chief minister. As an embarrassed Congress rushed to carry out damage control, Rahul told the media, ‘I am a pilot myself and am well aware of the dangers of landing in poor visibility. I am absolutely the last person to even suggest a thing like that.’ With a sheepish Joshi standing behind him, he said, ‘The UP Congress chief is neither a pilot nor a weather expert. She does not know.’
On 19 June 2011, Rahul Gandhi turned forty-one. Though he lives the busy life of a politician, he pursues his hobbies and, like his parents, looks for ways to lead an ordinary life. When her husband was still a pilot and Indira the prime minister, Sonia was often spotted buying vegetables in Delhi’s Khan Market. She loved to cook. Priyanka, too, likes to do her grocery shopping in the same market. Ranked among the world’s most expensive retail high streets, Khan Market is also Rahul’s favourite hangout in Delhi. He can be spotted having coffee at Barista or scanning through books in the shops on the outer side of the market. He also loves to spend time with his niece, Miraya, and nephew, Raihan. ‘It’s evident that he dotes on Priyanka’s children,’ said his hosts at Kamshet. During the paragliding trip, he was always talking about them and Priyanka. ‘He often said, “Priyanka must come to this place, but she is lazy,”’ said Astrid.
If a quiet evening out appeals to Rahul, so does life on the fast track. An official who worked closely with Manmohan Singh in the first term of the UPA government, said that Rahul would quietly fly to Singapore during the Grand Prix season, a high-octane affair when the city streets turn into a Formula One racing track. The days are packed with music concerts and parties.
An avid biker, Rahul also enjoys go-karting with his group of close friends. In April 2011, during a World Cup cricket match in Mumbai, Rahul landed at the New Yorker restaurant on Chowpatty beach around 1.30 in the afternoon for a meal of pizza, pasta and Mexican tostada salad. He chatted with the waiter and firmly turned down the manager’s request to let the meal be on the house. Rahul and his friends then split the bill of Rs 2,233.
To this day, at the age of forty-one, Rahul Gandhi remains a bachelor. Every now and then, there is speculation about his marriage or the women in his life. One rare occasion on which he spoke openly about it was in 2004, soon after filing his nomination papers for the Amethi constituency. In an interview to Vrinda Gopinath of the
Indian Express
, he said, ‘My girlfriend’s name is Veronique not Juanita. She is Spanish and not Venezuelan or Colombian. She is an architect, not a waitress, though I wouldn’t have had a problem with that. She is also my best friend.’ Rahul, who had met
Joshi’s intention was to praise Rahul and perhaps win brownie points from a leader who projects himself as a representative of the poor and the backward. But the move boomeranged. Such a declaration coming barely three months after Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy had died in a helicopter crash in the Nallamala forests of Andhra Pradesh was not the kind of controversy the Congress wanted. An inquiry committee was already looking into what had caused the crash that cost the Party a popular chief minister. As an embarrassed Congress rushed to carry out damage control, Rahul told the media, ‘I am a pilot myself and am well aware of the dangers of landing in poor visibility. I am absolutely the last person to even suggest a thing like that.’ With a sheepish Joshi standing behind him, he said, ‘The UP Congress chief is neither a pilot nor a weather expert. She does not know.’
On 19 June 2011, Rahul Gandhi turned forty-one. Though he lives the busy life of a politician, he pursues his hobbies and, like his parents, looks for ways to lead an ordinary life. When her husband was still a pilot and Indira the prime minister, Sonia was often spotted buying vegetables in Delhi’s Khan Market. She loved to cook. Priyanka, too, likes to do her grocery shopping in the same market. Ranked among the world’s most expensive retail high streets, Khan Market is also Rahul’s favourite hangout in Delhi. He can be spotted having coffee at Barista or scanning through books in the shops on the outer side of the market. He also loves to spend time with his niece, Miraya, and nephew, Raihan. ‘It’s evident that he dotes on Priyanka’s children,’ said his hosts at Kamshet. During the paragliding trip, he was always talking about them and Priyanka. ‘He often said, “Priyanka must come to this place, but she is lazy,”’ said Astrid.
If a quiet evening out appeals to Rahul, so does life on the fast track. An official who worked closely with Manmohan Singh in the first term of the UPA government, said that Rahul would quietly fly to Singapore during the Grand Prix season, a high-octane affair when the city streets turn into a Formula One racing track. The days are packed with music concerts and parties.
An avid biker, Rahul also enjoys go-karting with his group of close friends. In April 2011, during a World Cup cricket match in Mumbai, Rahul landed at the New Yorker restaurant on Chowpatty beach around 1.30 in the afternoon for a meal of pizza, pasta and Mexican tostada salad. He chatted with the waiter and firmly turned down the manager’s request to let the meal be on the house. Rahul and his friends then split the bill of Rs 2,233.
To this day, at the age of forty-one, Rahul Gandhi remains a bachelor. Every now and then, there is speculation about his marriage or the women in his life. One rare occasion on which he spoke openly about it was in 2004, soon after filing his nomination papers for the Amethi constituency. In an interview to Vrinda Gopinath of the
Indian Express
, he said, ‘My girlfriend’s name is Veronique not Juanita. She is Spanish and not Venezuelan or Colombian. She is an architect, not a waitress, though I wouldn’t have had a problem with that. She is also my best friend.’ Rahul, who had met
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