Dinesh Sharma is a law graduate from Jind, Haryana. He has been following Rahul Gandhi all around the country since 2011, and walks barefoot.
Everyone with even a passing interest in Indian cricket remembers the ‘Tendulkar fan’. You know him – the one with the bald head, tricolour body paint, giant flag, and conch shell – who was and still is ubiquitous at the Indian team’s matches.
But what if we told you that even Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi has an equally devoted fan?
More than six years ago, the Congress scion found a similar follower, who went wherever he did. Today, that fan has become synonymous with Rahul Gandhi’s rallies and roadshows. He is now 23 years old, and his name is Dinesh Sharma.
Sharma isn’t difficult to spot, for he is always barefoot. He wears a saffron turban and a specially-designed kurta which has the Congress’s election symbol, the hand, printed on it. He walks ahead of Rahul’s vehicle during roadshows, waving a Congress flag.
“I have been following Rahul ji for almost seven years, wherever he goes in India,” Sharma told ThePrint. “He is like God to me. I want to see him become the Prime Minister of the country one day.”Dinesh Sharma with Rahul Gandhi
But why walk barefoot, come hell or high water?
“This is the little I can do for Rahul Gandhi. When people see this, they realise how devoted I am to Rahul ji. I will stop walking barefoot the day he becomes the Prime Minister,” Sharma said.
After his first few trips, Rahul Gandhi and his Special Protection Group security team started recognising Sharma and accepting his constant presence.
“Rahul ji always asks me why I take so much trouble to travel with him. I say ‘all for you, sir’,” Sharma said with pride.
How the passion began, and how it is fed
Sharma belongs to a land-owning family of farmers in Kakrod village, Jind district, Haryana. He is the eldest of four siblings.
He was studying in Class XI when he first decided to go and meet Gandhi, when he was touring Uttar Pradesh in 2011.
“My family has always supported the Congress. My father would tell us about the Gandhi family, and their sacrifices for the nation. That got me attracted to Rahul ji,” Sharma said.
Having toured Sultanpur, Amethi, and Rae Bareli following Gandhi, Sharma got a stern word from his father when he returned to Haryana. “My father told me to first concentrate on studies, and then do whatever I want. I assured him that I will fulfil his dream and would pursue mine too,” he said.
And so, after completing school, Sharma enrolled for a five-year law degree at C.R. Law College, Hisar. He has recently completed his degree. But all this time, he has been travelling wherever Gandhi goes.
Despite the top security cover for Gandhi, Sharma gets to know his tour plans in advance from Congress leaders who are now familiar with him. In any case, Gandhi’s tour programmes are announced with some time to spare, and in that time, Sharma makes his travel arrangements. But who pays for his travel and accommodation?
“I come from a well-off family of zamindars, and I spend my own money. I usually travel by train from one place to another, and stay in hotels,” he said. Sometimes, local Congress leaders who’ve seen him before also help him get accommodation and food.
The plan ahead
For the current round of assembly elections, Sharma was shuttling between Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh. He came from Gujarat on 3 November after attending Gandhi’s public meeting in Navsari, reached Delhi the next day, and left for Himachal in the evening to attend Gandhi’s programme on 6 November.
Now, with the Himachal votes locked in EVMs, Sharma, like Gandhi, is free to concentrate on Gujarat.