Mumbai: Rahul Gandhi emerged as a youth icon during the General Elections with even Prime Minster Manmohan Singh acknowledging his contribution to the Congress' thumping victory.
But it isn't only the youth that are looking to him for a voice. The country'slesbian, gay, bisexual and trans-gender (LGBT) community voted overwhelmingly for the Congress hoping thatyoung Rahul would take up their cause. "He's really cute... he's so good looking and young. He's like the Ranbir Kapoor of Indian politics. He has all the charm and he didn't even have to drop a towel," says gay rights activist Harish Iyer. But critics say it's just a passing phase and that the support has more to do with Rahul's charisma than his performance. "We cannot just trust them just because Rahul is good looking. He has to prove himself," says Nitin Karani, Editor-at-Large of Gay Bombay. Naz Foundation founder and Executive Director Anjali Gopalan says, "There is this honesty that sort of shines across... but I hope that is real." With the annual gay pride parades still not receiving support outside some key metros it looks like an uphill task for the rainbow brigade. But their optimism runs high. "He's still single and he is 38-39...and he has cute dimples and so do I. So he has tough competition," points out Harish Iyer. It would be interesting to see if their dimpled icon actually proves to be their knight in shining armour. (With inputs from Shambhavi Rai and Sholeen Damarwala)
