New Delhi - Rahul Gandhi, heir of India's powerful Gandhi dynasty, filed his candidacy Saturday for the country's general elections that begin mid-April, officials said.

Gandhi, 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.

Rahul 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 Sonia and sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as well as senior Congress party leaders. Sonia Gandhi will also file her nomination papers from Rae Bareilly constituency in Uttar Pradesh on April 6.

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 the prime minister in the years to come.

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

An estimated 714 million people are eligible to cast votes in the five-stage, staggered elections from April 16 to May
13 for a new Lok Sabha, or lower house of Parliament. Results were expected on May 16. dpa