Who'd be a perfect Mrs Rahul Gandhi?

As Prince William pops the question to Kate Middleton, we wonder who'd steal India's most eligible bachelor's heart.

The buzz was growing louder with the guests - the next big royal wedding in India would be of Rahul Gandhi. Even as Shivraj Singh, the son of the erstwhile maharaja of Jodhpur, tied the knot to Gayatri Kumari of Askot in a lavish ceremony, the guessing game was on among the guests - who would be the perfect wife for the possible PM-in-the-waiting? After all, there's wedding in the air - big, fat, small, modest or royal.

Prince William has just popped the question to his lady love of eight years, Kate Middleton. Their wedding is touted to be the biggest event in Britain next year. BJP leader and national general secretary Varun Gandhi, Rahul's cousin, is also set to marry his long-time girlfriend Inca Yamini Roy next March. Could Congress's 40-yearold youth leader be far behind?

Last week while touring his constituency Amethi, Rahul came across one of his supporters, Devi Prasad, who asked him what even those close to the Gandhi parivaar probably wouldn't dare to ask: "When will Amethi get a royal bahu?" He got a short and sweet reply from Rahul Gandhi - 'soon'. With a smile.

No, don't confuse this 'soon' with one of those things leaders say just to end a conversation or make people instantly happy. The most eligible bachelor of the country may soon be on his way to break a lot of hearts. The grapevine is abuzz with the possibility of a wedding before India's next General Elections. And the man in question too is not shying away from the topic, though he's in no mood to declare his immediate plans.

Columnist and author Shobhaa De recently twittered about a possible wedding, maybe even before his cousin Varun ties the knot in March! But the question on everyone's mind is: who will Rahul Gandhi marry?

He hasn't been seen publicly with any woman after being pictured with his Spanish ex-girlfriend Veronique, an architect, at the cricket World Cup in 1999. "She is my girlfriend and best friend too," Rahul had said about her when he spoke about the subject for the first time in 2004, when he was touring Amethi. But that was at a time when he was still to taste Indian politics first hand. Has his perception about a suitable bride changed now that he is AICC general secretary and representative of the aam aadmi? Will the burden of responsibility and political expectations make him choose someone that's good for his image or will he still just follow his heart?

Restaurateur AD Singh says, "I think when someone of that stature gets married he is always aware of the expectations people have out of him." He obviously cannot get married to anyone his heart desires because in India, where dynasty politics rules, who the possible future Prime Minister's wife would be has huge ramifications.

For instance if Rahul is indeed dating a lady from the Afghan royal family - as the whispers of his jewellery designer girlfriend grows louder and louder - would he be able to marry her without taking into account how Indians would view her? "Why not?"asks adman Prahlad Kakkar. “Our history shows that marriage alliances among royals belonging to two different fractions have ended wars. When Mughal emperor Akbar married Hindu princess Jodhaa it was to end a war fought by generations on both sides of the battlefield." By that logic an Afghan bride for Rahul baba may in the long run actually benefit the country too, even though you may actually hear millions of hearts broken in India. Kakkar makes a suggestion, tongue firmly in cheek: "If Rahul has to take Akbar's path to a happy future, he can also marry Fatima Bhutto (grand-daughter of Pakistan's former PM the late Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and niece of the late PM Benazir Bhutto). She is a stunner and belongs to the Pakistan's political khandan. That would solve a lot of problems at one go." Priyanka Gandhi had said during a campaign trail last year, when asked about Rahul's marriage plans: "We are after him to get married."

The fact that Rahul has so far resisted pressures outside and within the family is testament to the fact that he probably does not believe in settling for just people's expectations. He is probably waiting for someone who sits pretty in his heart, finds a place in the people's hearts and is also accepted with open arms by his family. As the family history of the Gandhi parivaar shows, marriages have mostly been a matter of the heart and against family wishes.

Indira Nehru had married Feroze Gandhi much to the dislike of her father, the then PM Jawaharlal Nehru. Rajiv Gandhi chose to marry his college sweetheart, Sonia Maino, and his brother Sanjay Gandhi married Maneka Gandhi, whose differences with Indira Gandhi are well-publicised.

The question of who Rahul marries takes even greater significance since we've seen that a spat in the family may end up with the bahus on different sides of the political spectrum. BJP bahu Maneka Gandhi did not even attend Priyanka Gandhi's wedding though she has stated she will invite Sonia and family to her son's wedding in March.

Cricketer Atul Wassan says, "Rahul will in all probability marry someone who isn't in the public eye as much as he is - someone who is intelligent, will be loved by people, and maintains a low profile." A possible Diana-inthe- making would obviously be a potential disaster as the Congress scion's wife.

Look at Kate Middleton. The expectations, the media frenzy and comparisons with Diana has already sent her to attend counseling sessions on how to handle press, herself and the burden of expectations that lie on her as the watchful media follows her every footstep.

In a traditional country the best example of a marriage that works well in a political family would be that of Rahul's sister, Priyanka. Her businessman husband Robert Vadra, who was also a childhood friend, has learnt the art of being the silent and dignified partner to the woman who people thought would actually follow in Indira Gandhi's footsteps. Those are the kind of marriages that work the best in political families.

In the battle of the heart and mind, the mind may just be a forerunner when you have the whole country and its problems to think about and act on. Sociologist Shiv Vishwanathan says, "I hope he marries for love but in his position societal expectations will also be considered. But look at Sonia Gandhi. She hardly knew the role that lay ahead of her when she married Rajiv. But she has learnt to play the role very well and has been accepted by the aam aadmi in due time. As long as she follows a code of behaviour that's expected of an Indian PM's wife, whoever Rahul marries will gain acceptance."

From what we've seen so far Rahul Gandhi believes in wooing people through their hearts. How much of that heart he can afford to follow considering his own political role is the real question. So far 7 Race Course has been the address of just one person who was a bachelor - Atal Bihari Vajpayee. But he was 74 when he became Prime Minister.

Rahul is still young at 40. His candid answer to Devi Prasad in Amethi may well have been the informal announcement to the world that he has inched closer to deciding who's going to be Mrs Rahul Gandhi. For the man who breaks protocol to prove a point to his opponents, we do hope the heart is the winner in this case too. Like Singh puts it, "Love is a funny thing, you never know where it strikes or what it makes people do." We'd all like to know what it makes Mr Rahul Gandhi do.