From correspondents in Delhi, India, 07:02 PM IST

Typical of his self-effacing temperament, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi, the man who could be sitting in the front row of treasury benches one day, chose to be a backbencher as the first session of the newly-elected 15th Lok Sabha commenced Monday.

But though as he tried to avoid the spotlight, the 38-year-old Gandhi-Nehru scion, dressed in a starched white kurta pyjama, could not succeed in fobbing off fawning party leaders and an intrusive media. Almost every Congress MP made it a point to genuflect before the man who could be king tomorrow and chat up with him.

External Affairs Minister S.M. Krishna, the 77-year-old Congress politician from Karnataka, had a lot to be thankful to the Gandhi family. He was seen engaged in deep conversation with Rahul Gandhi. Anand Sharma also appeared upbeat after his promotion as commerce and industry minister and dropped in for a chat with Gandhi before he left after taking oath.

Rahul, the emerging youth icon, however, chose to give all his attention to buddies Jyotiraditya Scindia, Jitin Prasad and Arun Yadav, who were sitting next to him for at least a couple of hours.

(Staff Writer, © IANS)