Rahul Gandhi Trims Beard After Over Five Months, New Look Goes Viral

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday (February 28, 2023) arrived in the UK to kick off his week-long tour with an address at the University of Cambridge.

The Wayanad MP, who is a Visiting Fellow of the Cambridge Judge Business School (Cambridge JBS), is scheduled to deliver a student-only lecture at the university on the subject of 'Learning to Listen in the 21st Century' on Wednesday.

Our @CambridgeMBA programme is pleased to welcome #India's leading Opposition leader and MP @RahulGandhi of the Indian National Congress.

He will speak today as a visiting fellow of @CambridgeJBS on the topic of "Learning to Listen in the 21st Century". pic.twitter.com/4sTysYlYbC — Cambridge Judge (@CambridgeJBS) February 28, 2023

Ahead of his tour, during which he will also interact with the Indian diaspora in London, Rahul Gandhi, 52, was seen with some students with a new look. 

In the pictures now going viral on social media, Gandhi is seen without his long beard and hair, which he had grown during his Bharat Jodo Yatra.

Shri @RahulGandhi reaches @CambridgeJBS with new look. pic.twitter.com/Ypjt6IucN7 — Nitin Agarwal (@nitinagarwalINC) March 1, 2023

Shri @RahulGandhi ji delivering lecture in Cambridge on “Learning to listen in the 21st century" pic.twitter.com/r1rGhQEmdk — NSUI (@nsui) March 1, 2023

Several people had praised the former Congress chief's "coming-of-age" look after the end of his 145-day-long foot march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

"The beard has given him (Rahul Gandhi) a certain degree of seriousness," Prahlad Kakkar, an advertising industry veteran, had told news agency PTI after the 4,000 km Bharat Jodo Yatra concluded in Srinagar.

"He has arrived as a man, he is no longer Indira Gandhi's grandson, Rajiv Gandhi's son. He is now Rahul Gandhi, the man. That is a very critical change in how people perceive him today," Kakkar had said.

The Bharat Yodo Yatra was Rahul Gandhi's big "makeover act" and his scruffy beard was a symbol of this makeover, another expert had said.

Meanwhile, Gandhi will hold 'closed-door sessions' on 'Big Data and Democracy' and 'India-China relations' with the University of Cambridge Professor Shruti Kapila.

Looking forward to visiting my alma mater @cambridge_uni and delivering a lecture at @CambridgeJBS.

Happy to engage with some of the brightest minds in various domains, including geopolitics, international relations, big data and democracy. https://t.co/4pkrF79hG9 — Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) February 16, 2023

During his UK tour, the Congress leader will also interact with representatives of the Indian Overseas Congress (IOC) UK chapter and also address an 'Indian Diaspora Conference' planned over the weekend in London.

The Congress leader had last addressed the University of Cambridge at an event at Corpus Christi College entitled 'India at 75' during a visit to the UK in May 2022.