Vinci and his identity was known only to the university officials Nehru–Gandhi

and security agencies.[22][25] He further went on to obtain an family

Master of Philosophy (MPhil) from Trinity College, Cambridge in Education Rollins College (BA)
1995.[26]
Trinity College,
Before joining politics, Gandhi, worked at the Monitor Group, a Cambridge
management consulting firm, in London for three years.[27] In (MPhil)
2002, Gandhi returned to India and set up his technology
consultancy viz. Backops Services Private Ltd in Mumbai, where Alma mater Harvard University
he was one of the directors of the firm.[28] He then opened Signature
BackOps UK, a firm which used to acquire defence contracts
from foreign companies that supplied to the Indian armed
Website Official website (htt
forces.[29] Subramanian Swamy pointed out that Rahul Gandhi
p://rahulgandhi.in)
declared himself as British citizen in the company's filings but
the Congress party said that it was a yearly mistake.[30]

Political career

Formative years

In March 2004, Gandhi announced his entry into politics by

declaring that he would contest the 14th general elections
from his father's former constituency of Amethi in Uttar
Pradesh for the Lok Sabha, which is India's lower house of
Parliament.[31] His mother had held the seat until she
transferred to the neighboring constituency of Raebareli.
When Gandhi made this announcement, it came as a surprise
to political commentators who had perceived his sister
Gandhi (right) with Hillary Clinton, Sonia
Priyanka Gandhi as the more charismatic and probable
Gandhi and Karan Singh in New Delhi,
successor. It generated speculation that the presence of a
2009
young member of India's most famous political family would
reinvigorate the Congress party's political fortunes among
India's youthful population[32] In his first interview with
foreign media, Gandhi portrayed himself as an uniter of the country and condemned "divisive"
politics in India, saying that he would try to reduce caste and religious tensions.[31]

After being out of power for a record eight years, the Congress party returned to power winning a total
of 145 seats, in the 2004 Indian general election. A coalition government was formed at the center by
Congress with the backing of regional parties. Gandhi secured a victory by a substantial margin of
over 100,000 votes, thereby maintaining the stronghold of his family in Uttar Pradesh.[33] However,
the party performed poorly in Uttar Pradesh, as it held only 10 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the
state, with a vote share of 12.53 per cent.[34] He did not hold any official role or position within the
government.[35] From 2004 to 2006, Gandhi served as a member for the Standing Committee on
Home Affairs. Between 2006 and 2009, he served as the a member of the Standing Committee on
Human Resource Development.[36]

Gandhi and his sister, Priyanka Gandhi managed their mother's campaign for re-election to
Raebareilly in 2006, which was won with a victory margin of over 400,000 votes.[37] He was a
prominent figure in the Congress campaign for the 2007 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election;