Rahul Gandhi gets new look for Cambridge lecture: Trimmed beard, dresses sharply in suit

Rahul Gandhi’s looks, complete with a full beard and half-sleeve T-shirt during the Bharat Jodo Yatra at the peak wintry days, became the talk of the town. So, it is only natural that his new look from Cambridge has once again become a hot topic of discussion. 

Images from Rahul Gandhi’s trip to the UK to deliver a lecture at Cambridge University shows him sharply dressed in a blue shirt, red tie and a bluish-blackish suit. He seems to have lost the heavy beard and the hair that made its way into the political discourse. Instead, he chose to trim it down for the lecture.

The Congress leader gave a lecture on 'Learning to listen in the 21st century' at the university as a visiting fellow. He spoke about the Bharat Jodo Yatra, two differing ideologies and the importance of a global conversation. He would also interact with the Indian diaspora in London on March 5, and meet the members of the Indian Overseas Congress (IOC). Gandhi is also likely to hold a series of interactions with the business community leaders there. 

Amid other things, Gandhi’s changing looks during the Bharat Jodo Yatra, that continued for 136 days starting on September 7 last year, was discussed widely. The yatra started from Kanyakumari and ended in Jammu and Kashmir, passing through 12 states, and completing a distance of over 4,000 km. 

When Rahul Gandhi started the yatra, he was in his usual avatar, clean-shaven and short haired. But as the days and the yatra progressed, his hair and beard grew out. Political leaders in the country were miffed by Gandhi’s transformation and criticised him. Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma commented that Gandhi looked like Saddam Hussein. 

“I said in a television interview a few days ago that there is no problem with Rahul Gandhi's new look. But if you have to change your look, then at least make it like Vallabhbhai Patel or Jawaharlal Nehru. Even better if you look like Gandhiji, but why do you look more like Saddam Hussein now? This is the reason why Congress leaders’ practices are not close to Indian culture. They always try to adopt others’ cultures," said Sarma at a campaign rally in Ahmedabad ahead of the Gujarat Assembly election. 

Congress’ Sandeep Dikshit retorted, “Feel like laughing at the BJP. Never thought they would stoop so low but they are rattled by Bharat Jodo Yatra. Their leader (PM Modi) had also grown a beard recently but we did not say anything. We talk about real issues. The PM is saying there is a conspiracy against him. Conspiracies are hatched inside closed doors not during Yatra, where lakhs of people participate.”

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