If Priyanka Gandhi wins from Wayanad, three members of the Nehru-Gandhi family will be in Parliament – Sonia Gandhi in Rajya Sabha and Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi in the Lok Sabha
Our Bureau
New Delhi
Finally, the suspense is over. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will make her electoral debut from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, a decision that marks a significant stride for the leader who was appointed Congress general secretary in 2019. Priyanka Gandhi will make her debut in a Lok Sabha by-poll with her brother Rahul Gandhi deciding to retain the Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh of the two he contested and won.
Party president Mallikarjun Kharge announced that Priyanka Gandhi will contest from Wayanad at a special press conference on Monday. Rahul Gandhi, who contested from two seats — Rae Bareli and Wayanad, won from both the constituencies.
For long years, Priyanka had preferred to stay away from the limelight while taking care of the family strongholds of Amethi and Raebareli, represented by Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi respectively.
Since entering active politics, Priyanka Gandhi has canvassed for the party in different parts of the country. There had been speculation from time to time that the party may send Priyanka Gandhi to Rajya Sabha but she has decided to contest a Lok Sabha bypoll for her Parliament debut.
If Priyanka Gandhi wins from Wayanad, three members of the Nehru-Gandhi family will be in Parliament – Sonia Gandhi in Rajya Sabha and Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi in the Lok Sabha.
Though Priyanka Gandhi’s efforts in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls in 2022 did not yield the party desired results, she has been a popular campaigner for the party. Priyanka Gandhi campaigned extensively in this year’s Lok Sabha polls. Congress put up a far better performance compared to its 2014 and 2019 tally and won 99 Lok Sabha seats.
In her election speeches, Priyanka Gandhi has sought to raise the issues concerning common man, especially those pertaining to women. Priyanka Gandhi said on Monday that he will contest by-poll from Wayanad but her decades-old association with Amethi and Raebareli will continue.
“I am very happy to be able to represent Wayanad and I will not let them feel his (Rahul Gandhi’s) absence. I will work hard and I will try my best to make everyone happy and be a good representative. I have a very old relationship with Raebareli and Amethi and it cannot be broken. I will also help my brother in Rae Bareli. We will both be present in Rae Bareli and Wayanad,” Priyanka Gandhi said at the special press conference in the presence of Kharge and her brother Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi said both Raebareli and Wayanad will get two MPs. “I have an emotional connection with both Wayanad and Rae Bareli. And for the last five years, being an MP from Wayanad has been a fantastic experience and enjoyable experience. I thanks people who stood with me, I thank the people of Wayanad who gave me love and affection. They gave me the energy to fight in a very difficult time. So, I will never forget that,” he said.
Following the Congress’s announcement BJP leader Rajeev Chandrashekhar on Monday hit out at the party, alleging that there is “shamelessness” and the party is imposing one member after another of their dynasty on voters of Wayanad.
Lashing out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s decision to keep Raebareli seat and not Wayanad, Bharatiya Janata party leader Shehzad Poonawala said Rahul Gandhi has deceived the public of Wayanad. He further alleged Gandhi family discriminated between son and daughter by sending Priyanka Gandhi to South India to establish her political journey.
Taking potshots at Congress, Poonawala stated, “It has been proved that Congress is not a party but rather a family-run company. Sonia Gandhi will be the MP from the Rajya Sabha, and Rahul Gandhi will keep the Raebareli seat. They have decided to contest Priyanka Gandhi from Wayanad which means the whole family will be in parliament, which is a notion of familiarization.”
Slamming Rahul Gandhi’s decision to leave Wayanad seat, the BJP leader said, “He has deceived the public of Wayanad by leaving the seat. Even he didn’t tell the Wayanad public about his contest from two seats. The left parties had constantly iterated that he would leave Kerala and the same thing happened.”
