New Delhi:
The long-awaited electoral debut of Congress’s Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will happen from Kerala’s Wayanad, the seat that will shortly be vacated by her brother Rahul Gandhi. Mr Gandhi will represent Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli, the family bastion traditionally represented by their mother Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha. Mrs Gandhi vacated Raebareli early this year and is now a member of the Rajya Sabha.
Shortly after Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge made the announcement, Ms Gandhi Vadra said she was “not nervous” about contesting and that she would give Wayanad her “best”.
“I am very happy to be able to represent the people of Wayanad and all I’ll say is that I won’t let them feel his (Rahul Gandhi’s) absence. He said he will come frequently, but I will work just as hard and try to make everyone happy,” she said.
The other family bastion in Uttar Pradesh, Amethi, is already back in Congress hands, with long-time Gandhi family aide KL Sharma besting the BJP’s former Union minister Smriti Irani.
“It was decided that Rahul Gandhi will retain Raebareli because it is close to his heart and the people have been with the family for generations,” Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said after a meeting this evening to deliberate on this and other issues. The assent of Kerala Congress was conveyed by the presence of KC Venugopal, who stood shoulder to shoulder with Mr Kharge at the post-meet press conference.
Thanking the people of Wayanad for their “love”, Mr Gandhi told them that they will now have “two members of parliament”.
Calling it a ‘tough decision”, he said, “Priyanka will contest from Wayanad, but I will be a frequent visitor and we will meet the promises made to the people of Wayanad”.
The electoral debut of Priyanka Gandhi has been speculated on since at least 2019, when many in the Congress expected her to lead the battle against the BJP by contesting from Varanasi, the constituency of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. But the party was kept waiting.
Ahead of the recently concluded general election, Ms Gandhi Vadra had again turned down requests to contest – the plan was to have the siblings contest from Amethi and Raebareli. But the fielding of KL Sharma, who was intimately acquainted with both constituencies for decades, from Amethi paid off in spades, with the Gandhi family loyalist beating the BJP’s former Union minister Smriti Irani by 1.6 lakh votes.
At the time, Ms Gandhi Vadra had told party leaders in private that she had reservations about all three Gandhis being in parliament. She was concerned that it would only provide ammunition to the BJP and strengthen their “dynastic politics” allegation.
