Prince and the pauper.

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Reluctant "crown prince" Rahul Gandhi is finally getting his hands dirty in India's tumultuous political scene after years of dithering about filling the boots of his illustrious forebears. Gandhi, 38, whose father, grandmother and great-grandfather were prime ministers, has launched what the ruling Congress party has dubbed his "Discovery of India" trip - aimed at winning hearts and minds as elections loom.

"He has become the new face of the party, (representing) a new generation," said political columnist Parsa Venkateshwar Rao. Despite being a member of India's parliament, Gandhi, projected as a future prime minister, had worried party leaders with his seeming hesitation to take up his dynastic duties. But now he has waded into battle with a politician who could be his toughest foe; iconic low-caste leader Mayawati, who also wants to be prime minister.

The good news for Congress is that Gandhi, whose political appearances had been few and far between, "is finally beginning to irritate someone. The bad news is he has irritated Mayawati," noted veteran columnist MJ Akbar.

The confrontation is being played out mainly in India's most populous state Uttar Pradesh, where Mayawati is chief minister and which the Gandhi family view as their inherited political fiefdom. The charismatic Mayawati, nicknamed the "dalit queen" -A a dalit being someone on the lowest rung of India's ancient caste hierarchy - swept to power last year in Uttar Pradesh and has made no secret about wanting to be premier. "People say Uttar Pradesh is just a glimpse of what's going to unfold at the national level," she claimed in January.

With general elections due by May next year, Congress has been rattled by her meteoric rise. It has traditionally enjoyed the support of the dalits - or "untouchables" as they used to be known - once considered so impure that upper castes carried out cleansing rituals if a dalit touched them or their shadow fell upon them.

But Mayawati, who heads the regional Bahujan Samaj, or Majority People's Party, and is seeking to build a pan-India support base, is challenging Congress for low-caste loyalty. Gandhi, whose mother Sonia is party chief, has embarked on a slew of visits to humble rural homes as Congress tries to retain the vast low-caste vote.

Mayawati has lost no time accusing the shy, bespectacled Gandhi, who still looks and sounds more like an earnest student than a seasoned politician, of opportunism. Congress "is sending its prince (Gandhi) to live and eat with dalits just to win their votes", she said, accusing him of "bathing with special soap and going through purification rituals after meeting and eating with dalits".

Gandhi, dishevelled and dirty after campaigning under a baking sun, angrily dismissed the charges last weekend and demanded reporters inspect his dust-streaked shirt and trousers. "See my clothes. Do you think I use special soap?" asked Gandhi, a former business consultant elected to parliament in 2004, adding: "My job is to go and listen to those who are not heard."

While he has dismissed calls by party members for him to be the next premier, replacing scholarly 75-year-old incumbent Manmohan Singh, no-one rules him out in the longer term despite his wooden campaigning skills. The family's aura - akin years ago to the Kennedys in the United States - is so great that many in the Congress cannot picture a future without a Gandhi in charge.

"Don't be surprised if the Congress portrays him as the person to lead the country in the 21st century," said political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan. But others believe Congress may no longer be able to play the dynastic card. Mayawati "is here to stay", said Business Standard political columnist Aditi Phadnis.

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