India, June 21 -- Congress leaders see Rahul Gandhi emerging as opposition's principal face.

It was a hot and humid afternoon in the national capital on June 19, but hundreds of Congress workers braved the soaring temperatures to greet Rahul Gandhi on his 56th birthday, with many raising slogans projecting the Gandhi scion as the country's next Prime Minister.

While Rahul Gandhi, who is also the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, was cutting his birthday cake at the Congress headquarters here, the political challenges and opportunities leading up to the 2029 Lok Sabha elections were perhaps not far from his mind. Recent political developments within several opposition parties following the Assembly elections have once again brou...