Rahul Gandhi receives grandfather Feroze Gandhi’s long-lost driving licence in Rae Bareli

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday received the long-lost driving licence of his grandfather, Feroze Gandhi, during his visit to his parliamentary constituency here in Uttar Pradesh.

The licence, preserved for decades by a local family, was handed over to Gandhi by Vikas Singh, a member of the organising committee of the Rae Bareli Premier League cricket tournament, on the second day of the Congress leader’s tour of his Lok Sabha constituency.

“Several years ago, during a programme in Rae Bareli, my father-in-law found the driving licence. He kept it safely and after his death, my mother-in-law continued to preserve it,” Singh said. “When we learnt that Rahul Gandhi was visiting Rae Bareli, we felt it was our responsibility to hand it to him,” he added.

Singh said the family considered the document an “amanat” (valuable trust) that needed to be handed back to the Gandhi family at the earliest opportunity.

Gandhi examined the licence carefully when it was presented to him on stage and immediately shared a photograph of it with his mother, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, through WhatsApp.

Born in December 1912, Feroze Gandhi won the poll contest from Rae Bareli in the first general election in 1952. He died on September 7, 1960.