{"id":25995,"date":"2017-09-05T15:51:58","date_gmt":"2017-09-05T10:21:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/apnlive.com\/?p=25995"},"modified":"2017-09-05T15:53:58","modified_gmt":"2017-09-05T10:23:58","slug":"congress-struggles-gujarat-poll-prep-rahul-gandhi-fly-us-learn-ai","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apnlive.com\/india-news\/congress-struggles-gujarat-poll-prep-rahul-gandhi-fly-us-learn-ai\/","title":{"rendered":"As Congress struggles with Gujarat poll prep, Rahul Gandhi to fly to US, learn AI"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The Congress vice president, who is known to head abroad each time the party is in a crisis, had earlier flown off to Norway days before RJD\u2019s rally against the BJP<\/em><\/p>\n

A day after he visited Gujarat to sound his party\u2019s poll bugle for the forthcoming Gujarat assembly polls, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is all set to fly off to America\u2019s Silicon Valley later this week in a bid to \u201clearn more about Artificial Intelligence\u201d.<\/p>\n

The 47-year-old \u2018youth\u2019 leader, whose propensity for embarrassing gaffes in politics triggers jibes and criticism alike from his political opponents as well as his party colleagues, is also known for going off on frequent foreign sojourns, especially when his party faces crucial electoral challenges \u2013 or what his own aide and senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh recently termed and \u201cexistential crisis\u201d.<\/p>\n

It may be recalled that Rahul had gone off to Norway, ditching key Congress ally and Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, who had organised a massive rally in Patna on August 27 to showcase Opposition unity against the BJP. Although Lalu\u2019s \u2018BJP Bhagao, Desh Bachao\u2019 rally was a major success, Rahul\u2019s absence along with that of his mother and party president Sonia Gandhi had given the BJP and its allies to punch holes in Lalu\u2019s claims of a \u2018show of strength\u2019 by the Opposition.<\/p>\n

$\"Lalu$ <\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

However, Rahul doesn\u2019t seem affected by these recurring taunts about being an \u2018absentee\u2019 Congress VP or a \u2018reluctant politician\u2019. Instead, he seems to be adamant on strengthening the notion.<\/p>\n

On Monday, the Congress vice president was on a day-long visit to Ahmedabad in Gujarat to kick start his party\u2019s preparations for the Assembly polls due in the state later this year. Rahul had in fact announced at an interaction with party workers in Ahmedabad that his visit was the official launch of the party\u2019s poll campaign in a state where the Congress has been out of power for over two decades and was recently faced by a slew of defections and desertions by MLAs who jumped ship to join the BJP.<\/p>\n

Gujarat<\/strong><\/a> isn\u2019t the only immediate challenge for the Congress. The party is also facing a major factional feud in Himachal Pradesh \u2013 one of the few states where the Congress is still in power \u2013 and also Bihar where the fall of the Mahagathbandhan government has made the party\u2019s 19 legislators vulnerable to poaching by former ally Nitish Kumar\u2019s JD (U) and the BJP.<\/p>\n

In Rahul\u2019s absence, Congress president Sonia Gandhi had to recently step in to hold discussions with the party\u2019s MLAs in Bihar and Himachal Pradesh chief minister Veer Bhadra Singh to prevent dissentions.<\/p>\n

$\"Sonia$ <\/a><\/u><\/strong><\/p>\n

But Rahul doesn\u2019t seem too concerned about the immediate challenges at hand and is, instead occupied by his vision for the future. Party sources said Gandhi wants India to be a global leader in the field of technology and his visit to America\u2019s Silicon Valley later this week is with an aim to \u201cexpand his thoughts about artificial intelligence\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cRahulji wants to make India really a true world power. Artificial Intelligence (AI), Nano Technology and Biotechnology are the future and the current government has failed to deliver on these issues. His aim and vision is to make India not just a software giant but a giant in the areas of artificial intelligence, nano technology and biotechnology,\u201d India Today quoted a senior Congress leader as saying.<\/p>\n

It is learnt that Rahul\u2019s US visit is being organised by Sam Pitroda, chairman of the Overseas Congress \u2013 a technology innovator who was roped in by Rahul\u2019s father and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in the mid-1980s to usher in India\u2019s telecom revolution and set up the Centre for Development of Telematics in New Delhi.<\/p>\n

Rahul is also set to give a lecture on \u2018India At 70: Reflections On The Path Forward\u2019, an event sponsored by the Institute of International Studies Berkeley Research on Contemporary India Program and the Institute for South Asia Studies at the University of California (UC) on\u00a0September 11.<\/p>\n

\u201c Rahul Gandhi<\/strong><\/a> has led the reorganisation of India\u2019s Congress Party since becoming the vice president of the party in 2013. At UC Berkeley, he will offer his reflections on contemporary India and the path forward for the world\u2019s largest democracy. He follows in the footsteps of his great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru, India\u2019s first prime minister, who delivered a historic speech at Berkeley in 1949,\u201d an announcement on the university\u2019s website said.<\/p>\n

The Congress leaders back home would perhaps be wondering if Rahul had any reflections to share on the path forward for India\u2019s oldest political party too.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"