Rahul Gandhi, heir of India’s powerful Gandhi dynasty, has filed his candidacy for the country’s general elections that begin this month, officials said.

Gandhi, the 38-year-old son of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and Sonia Gandhi who heads the ruling Congress Party, filed his nomination papers for the Amethi parliamentary constituency in northern Uttar Pradesh state. He drove to the Sultanpur district headquarters 80 kilometres east of state capital Lucknow in a cavalcade of cars amid cheering and showering of rose petals by Congress party activists.

He was accompanied by his mother and sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, as well as senior Congress party leaders. Sonia Gandhi has also filed her nomination papers from Rae Bareilly constituency in Uttar Pradesh.

Rahul Gandhi entered active politics in 2004 after the party nominated him from Amethi. He was promoted as a general secretary of the party in September 2007 and is tipped as a future prime minister.

His great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, was India’s first prime minister and his grandmother, Indira Gandhi, possibly the most famous premier.

The Cambridge educated Gandhi filed his papers with an affidavit valuing his assets at $560,000, and stated that he doesn’t own a car.

The cash deposit he has with the State Bank of India, Delhi, is worth about $1,700. He owns some land and two shop lots.

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