Ms Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (27), the daughter of Mrs Sonia Gandhi, head of India's best-known political dynasty, is emerging as the key figure in her mother's Congress party in the current elections and rising fast as its new icon. "She is not only a member of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty but has the poise and bearing of her grandmother and the charm of her father," said a Congress worker in Lucknow, capital of the politically crucial northern Uttar Pradesh state.
Earlier this month, Ms Gandhi demonstrated both as she enchanted voters with her exuberance and resemblance to her grandmother, Indira Gandhi, while campaigning in Rae Bareli constituency, adjoining her mother's constituency of Amethi, some 90 miles north of Lucknow.
Party insiders said Ms Gandhi, who married Mr Robert Vadra, a businessman, three years ago, had brought "fresh vitality" to the Congress party. It has lost its appeal since the mid-1990s, having ruled for nearly 45 years.
Ms Gandhi may be more acceptable to most Indians than her Italian-born mother since she is not considered a foreigner.
Meanwhile, exit polls conducted after three of five rounds of voting in India's staggered elections have indicated that the 24party coalition led by the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) would win well over half the 545 Lok Sabha (People's House) seats. The Prime Minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee's 18-month coalition needs to win 272 seats for the majority which it lost by a single vote in April. Voting for 344 seats has been conducted while the remaining 199 go to the polls on September 25th and October 3rd.
