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Yahoo! My Yahoo! Mail Yahoo! Search Search: Sign InNew User? Sign Up News Home - Help Navigation Primary Navigation Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Secondary Navigation Australia China India Indonesia Japan Malaysia Philippines Thailand Vietnam Search Search: India's Rahul Gandhi: dynastic political heritage AFP - Sunday, May 10 NEW DELHI (AFP) - - For Rahul Gandhi, star campaigner of the ruling Congress party and touted as a future premier, being the torchbearer of India's political "first family" is a source of pride -- but also a millstone. ADVERTISEMENT Rahul has cast himself as champion of India's poor masses while out campaigning in marathon month-long general elections that wind up Thursday, and the 38-year-old is frequently mobbed by fervent supporters. But critics carp about his lineage -- his family has given India three prime ministers -- saying the dynasty's continued political dominance is at odds with India's emerging economic superpower status. The man himself has taken a middle ground, saying last week that "just because I'm the outcome of that system doesn't mean I can't change that system." The good-looking Rahul, whose dimpled face beams from electoral posters, says his position may be "undemocratic but it's the reality." "I could do nothing and that would change nothing. But my position gives me certain advantages" to push for change, he told journalists. He brushes aside talk of becoming prime minister. But the change he talks about does not involve ruling himself out of the running for the job and few analysts doubt he will be the Congress nominee at some point. Since independence in 1947, power in the Congress has passed from his great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first premier, to his grandmother Indira Gandhi and later to his father Rajiv. It now rests with Rahul's Italian-born mother, Sonia, party president and seen as India's most influential politician. Many Congress loyalists cannot envisage the party without a Gandhi at the top. However, right now, Rahul says his big goal is to open up India's political process. "I consider it my honour and my duty to change the system of which I'm the result," he says. He says he wants to bring in "the aam admi", or common man, so they have a stake in changing the system -- long a preserve of families, fixers and people with influence -- and rife with corruption where votes are openly bought. "I go to the villages where there's nothing and I see people who're amazing, who put us all to shame. The real energy of India is in the villages" and must be unleashed, said Gandhi, who has paid a slew of visits to humble rural homes. Rahul, general secretary of the Congress's youth wing, says he especially wants to get more young people politically involved and build a party organisation of which "the country can be proud." "I've a lot of work to do in the Youth Congress. It will take two years to deliver that organisation." With 51 percent of the 1.1 billion population under 25 and two-thirds under 35, the youth vote represents a huge constituency. The stakes are high for Congress, which would like to recover the electoral high ground it once held, when it alone could form a government. At the moment the party, which has ruled India since 2004 at the head of a coalition, needs the help of allies to stay in power. The appeal of the Cambridge-educated Rahul has a potent resonance among some young voters, where the two leading contenders for the premier's job are way past normal retirement age. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who is the Congress nominee is 76 while L.K. Advani, leader of the opposition Hindu nationalists, is 81. "I don't like (the Congress) candidate in my constituency but I'm going to vote for the Congress because I want Rahul Gandhi to become the leader of India" one day, said New Delhi nurse Ambeka Chawla, 25. But others believe Congress -- and the nation -- needs to emerge from the Gandhi family shadow. "The Congress high command structure has become so deeply entrenched it's not even worth a debate -- the country has simply accepted it," says Ramesh Ramanathan, co-founder of the Janaagrahain Centre for Citizenship and Democracy. He argued in a newspaper column that party reform was impossible unless Rahul renounces "aspirations to the office of prime minister" so people can believe "the possibilities of India are built on a foundation of equity." Rahul avoids talking about what he will do after his two years of overhauling the youth wing. He would be 40 -- the same age his father became premier following the slaying of his grandmother Indira by Sikh separatists. Rajiv too was assassinated -- by a Sri Lankan Tamil separatist suicide bomber. In 2004, the tragedy-studded family announced Rahul would enter politics, even though his sister Priyanka, 37, who resembles her strong-featured grandmother Indira, is considered more of a political natural. Priyanka says she wants to focus on raising her two young children. Family loyalist Singh, 76, is widely expected to step aside for Rahul midway through his term if the Congress returns to power. Singh has fuelled the speculation by saying Rahul, who has shed his halting schoolboy speaking style and displays much more confidence on the hustings, has "all the qualities a good PM should have." "Definitely Rahul will be pushed as a prime minister," said political analyst and author Satish Jacob. Email Story IM Story Printable View Blog This Sign in to recommend this article » 0 users recommend Related Articles: Asia Pacific Myanmar opposition calls for Suu Kyi medical careAFP - 1 hour 42 minutes ago Thousands flee as Pakistan lifts Swat curfewAFP - 1 hour 50 minutes ago Japanese Prince Akishino off on European tourAFP - Sunday, May 10 Japan confirms fourth case of swine fluAP - Sunday, May 10 Weather forecast for the Asia-Pacific regionAP - Sunday, May 10 Enlarge Photo India's Rahul Gandhi: dynastic political heritage Most Popular – Asia Pacific Viewed Obese young men have less hope of marriage: study British store admits it boobed in bra row Geithner's warning on speed of economic recovery Court okays breast removal for transsexual teen: report Murdoch leads charge to get readers to pay online View Complete List » Search: Home Singapore Asia Pacific World Business Entertainment Sports Technology Top Stories Most Popular Copyright © 2009 Yahoo! Southeast Asia Pte Ltd. (Co. 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