Even though the adoption of the same model in the parent party may not be anyday soon, the 38-year old leader, in a candid admission, described patronage, money, dynasty and relatives as a "bane" which prevents the youth from joining politics.

He described himself as someone who benefited from it as his father, grandmother and great grandfather were the Prime Ministers of the country at a meeting in Uttarakhand.

The year 2008 proved to be a watershed for Gandhi as he came on his own and showed maturity as a politician proving the critics wrong that he would not be able to find his feet in the hurly-burly of Indian politics.

Not only was he made the in-charge of NSUI and the IYC, Gandhi was made a member of several panels within the Congress, prominent being the Future Challenges Committee, the Publicity Committee and the Manifesto Committee.

Party insiders say that in the meetings of these committees and others, they receive valuable inputs from the youth leader and political insight which clearly indicate that he has come of age and is ready to fulfill bigger tasks in the party or the government.

Congress leaders point out that for the first time in 2008, Gandhi seriously looked beyond the family pocket borough of Amethi-Rae Bareilly and the state of Uttar Pradesh.

In the recently-held Assembly elections which the Congress won 3-2, party veterans like Veerappa Moily gave credit to the Amethi MP for the victory, describing him as the ‘star’ and another General Secretary Prithviraj Chavan referring to him as the "third pole" of the party.

... contd.