NEW DELHI: Verdict 2009 has also been a decisive judgement on the 38-year-old Rahul Gandhi as a campaigner, political tactician and as the Ordained Rahul Gandhi with Priyanka Gandhi after receiving victory certificate.
One who would be king. And the judgement is overwhelmingly in his favour. Somewhere in the course of the campaign, he 
changed from an apprentice politician to a tactician, shunning and wooing allies with the ease of a natural. He gambled on Congress going it alone in Uttar Pradesh, and it paid off handsomely. He complimented Nitish Kumar, Chandrababu Naidu and the Left, leaving party leaders confused and allies fuming. Rahul was setting the political agenda on his terms. He could be king right away. But he has chosen not to. Instead of basking in the glory in Delhi, he reached Sultanpur in UP with sister Priyanka to thank his voters. Surely, the man is different. His focus has been UP, which he knows is key for Congress to regain its old glory. Expect him to possibly change the leadership by bringing in someone younger. And that man, many say, could be Jitin Prasada. Jitin is just one of his picks. Rahul made it plain in this election that it was time to blood the young — identified Youth Congress chief Ashok Tanwar for Sirsa (Haryana), Bhanwar Jitendra Singh for Alwar, Ravneet Bittu in Punjab and Meenakshi Natarajan in Mandsaur. Midway through the high-voltage campaigning came a patronizing snub from BJP chief Rajnath Singh when he refused to react to a barb from Rahul Gandhi: "I don't respond to his comments."
changed from an apprentice politician to a tactician, shunning and wooing allies with the ease of a natural. He gambled on Congress going it alone in Uttar Pradesh, and it paid off handsomely. He complimented Nitish Kumar, Chandrababu Naidu and the Left, leaving party leaders confused and allies fuming. Rahul was setting the political agenda on his terms. He could be king right away. But he has chosen not to. Instead of basking in the glory in Delhi, he reached Sultanpur in UP with sister Priyanka to thank his voters. Surely, the man is different. His focus has been UP, which he knows is key for Congress to regain its old glory. Expect him to possibly change the leadership by bringing in someone younger. And that man, many say, could be Jitin Prasada. Jitin is just one of his picks. Rahul made it plain in this election that it was time to blood the young — identified Youth Congress chief Ashok Tanwar for Sirsa (Haryana), Bhanwar Jitendra Singh for Alwar, Ravneet Bittu in Punjab and Meenakshi Natarajan in Mandsaur. Midway through the high-voltage campaigning came a patronizing snub from BJP chief Rajnath Singh when he refused to react to a barb from Rahul Gandhi: "I don't respond to his comments."
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