As Rahul Gandhi opts for Rae Bareli, Priyanka to debut from Wayanad | India News

The announcement came after the Congress’s top leadership held discussions at party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence on Monday.

With this decision, the Congress aims to send a clear message: the party is not giving up on the Hindi heartland and will continue its fight to regain ground with the 2027 Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls in mind.

With an improved result in Uttar Pradesh, where the party won six out of the 17 seats it contested, the Congress would seek to convey that Rahul will not abandon the seat and state that has appeared favourable for the party for the first time after a decade.

Another significant factor is the performance of the BJP, which won 33 seats this time, down from 62 in 2019 and 71 in 2014. In 2019, the two main regional parties, SP and BSP, had come together yet the BJP finished with 62 seats.

Making the announcement at a special briefing in New Delhi, Kharge said, “I have to tell you about an important decision. Our leader Rahul Gandhi ji has been elected from two places. As per law, he has to vacate one seat and can continue on one seat. Tomorrow is the last date, and today, the party has decided that Rahul Gandhi ji should retain Rae Bareli seat because it is close to him from earlier.”

“There is a connection from there of his family and for generations, they have been contesting from there. The people there have also said and the party people also say that it will be good if he retains Rae Bareli, and what is more important is that Wayanad seat he contested… People have given him love and want the same, that he retains Wayanad. But the law doesn’t allow this. Hence, with great sadness and after much thought, we have decided that from Wayanad, which will be vacated, Priyanka ji will contest,” he said.

“Hence, on behalf of the party, we thank her for keeping our suggestion and agreeing with us. I thank them both… Both seats – Rae Bareli will be kept and Wayanad too, with Priyanka ji being there.”

Kharge thanked Priyanka for “ensuring a win for the party and helping it regain ground in places” where they had lost seats. “She worked very hard on Rahul ji’s seat,” he said.

Asked about his “warning” to Rahul if he refused to take the Leader of Opposition post in the Lok Sabha, Kharge said: “Today’s decision is this. And if the decision is made, I will tell that too.”

Earlier this month, during the Congress Working Committee meeting, Kharge had, in a lighter vein, said that if Rahul does not take up the LOP post, he will initiate disciplinary action. A resolution was passed during the meeting on June 8 for Rahul to become the LOP.

On the “threat”, Rahul jokingly said, “Yes, he had given me a dhamki (threat). The president has threatened me.”

On his seat choice, Rahul said: “I have an emotional connection with Rae Bareli and Wayanad. And in the last five years, I was the Wayanad MP, and all the people there gave me love – people from all parties. I am thankful from the heart for that, and I will remember it for the rest of my life.”

“Priyanka will contest the election from Wayanad, but I will periodically visit Wayanad and the promises made by us will be fulfilled. We have an old relationship with Rae Bareli and I am happy that I will represent it again, but it was not an easy decision. Because the connection was with both,” he said.

The bypoll to the Wayanad seat will be held within six months from the day of notification of its vacancy.

“I am confident she (Priyanka) will win the election and she is going to be a very good representative for the people of Wayanad. People of Wayanad can think about it like this – you have two MPs. One is my sister, and one is me. And my doors are always open for you for the rest of my life. I love every single person in Wayanad,” Rahul said.

Priyanka said she is happy that she will represent the people of Wayanad. “I won’t let them feel his (Rahul) absence. And as he said he will come many times with me. I will work as hard and I will try my best to make everyone happy and be a good representative. And my relationship with Rae Bareli is very old. I have worked in both Rae Bareli and Amethi for 20 years. That relationship can’t break. I, Bhaiyya in Rae Bareli too, and like he said, we will be present in Rae Bareli and Wayanad,” she said.

Rahul interjected saying, “Both are getting two MPs.”

Asked about her electoral debut and whether she is nervous, Priyanka said, “Not at all. Not nervous at all.”

The Congress and the Gandhi family have a connection with Rae Bareli that dates back to 1952 – when Feroze Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka’s grandfather, contested from the seat. The seat has also been represented by Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in the past.

Priyanka will be the eighth member of the Nehru-Gandhi family to enter electoral politics. If she wins, three members of the family will be in Parliament for the first time.