The Group to Look into Future Challenges, set up by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to act as a think tank for Rahul, has also remained a mere talk shop. So much so that Rahul chose to skip its third meeting on November 30 even though he was in New Delhi, meeting visitors at his official residence.

His initial meetings with IYC and NSUI office-bearers had generated a lot of excitement in party circles as they found him a very receptive listener and somebody “who thinks out of the box”. For instance, he played cricket with them after one such meeting. These meetings have failed to produce any results though.

IYC president Ashok Tanwar asserted that Rahul had given a “new direction” to the organisation. “He has guided us in our membership drive as to how to widen our base, how to connect with new people. He has been holding discussions with everybody to prepare our future strategy. You will soon realise it is a transitional phase in this country’s politics. There is no leader in any other party who has the kind of vision Rahulji has,” Tanwar told The Indian Express. He, however, refused to go into specifics claiming that he was not authorised to divulge internal matters.

IYC and NSUI sources said Rahul’s first 100 days in office were “all about meetings and discussions” without any concrete results. “He is a good listener. He asks us about our ideas. We don’t know yet what exactly he wants to do. But, probably, he will come out with his plan soon,” an NSUI office-bearer said.