TY - BOOK AU - Aarthi Ramachandran TI - Decoding Rahul Gandhi SN - 9789381626696 (pbk.) U1 - 324.2092 PY - 2012/// CY - Chennai PB - Tranquebar Press KW - Politicians N2 - The book throws light on the factors that have shaped him as a person and politician. It details his working style, which is nearer to a CEO of a Fortune 500 company, and the role played by the members of his A-Team (which includes Kanishka Singh and Sachin Rao). How did Rahul Gandhi s years abroad as a student and as a management consultant influence his politics? What was his much-hyped revamp of the IYC and the NSUI all about? What are the reasons for the Congress and Rahul s humiliating defeat in the 2012 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections? How has he applied global management principles, like The Toyota Way and Bottom of the Pyramid , to domestic politics? Prime Minister Rahul Gandhi what would this mean for India? In a bid to demystify Brand Rahul , Decoding Rahul Gandhi chronicles his political path, which is different from that pursued by his mother Sonia, father Rajiv, and grandmother Indira. Although the 42-year-old Rahul has borrowed a few elements from them, he has carefully and deliberately added new ideas, strategies and practices from the world of business and management. Rahul s philosophy is a form of corpo-politics, where management principles are applied to political leadership, and socio-politics, where beliefs in inclusive growth are ingrained in overall strategies. Why have Rahul s plans flopped so far? His initiatives to inculcate internal democracy in the Congress youth and student wings were well-intentioned, but lacked a clear-cut thrust and have failed to grapple with realpolitik. Decoding Rahul Gandhi is based on dozens of interviews with political actors, members of Rahul s team in the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and National Students Union of India (NSUI), and his friends and acquaintances. Coupled with in-depth reportage of his electoral and political campaigns, the book establishes how Rahul s politics is riddled with inconsistencies, symbolism and an opportunistic, rather than committed, engagement with national issues ER -