Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will make her electoral debut from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala in a bypoll, after her brother and former Congress chief, Rahul Gandhi, decided to retain the Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh.
Mr. Gandhi won both the seats in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election but as rules allow only one seat to be retained, he had to choose within 14 days of being elected as an MP. The deadline to do so is June 18.
The decision was announced by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at his official residence on Monday, after a marathon meeting that went on for over two hours.
Mr. Gandhi said it was a difficult decision for him as he has an emotional connection with both Rae Bareli and the people of Wayanad. “I have an old relation with Rae Bareli and I am very happy that I will be representing it. But this was not an easy decision because there is attachment to both the places (Wayanad and Rae Bareli),” he told reporters soon after Mr. Kharge announced the decision.
“I am very happy to be able to represent Wayanad, and all I will say is that I won’t let them feel his (Mr. Gandhi’s) absence. As he said, he will come frequently, but I will work just as hard and will try to make everyone happy and be a good representative,” Ms. Vadra said.
She also asserted that her ties with Rae Bareli and Amethi could not break as she had worked there for 20 years, and she would continue to assist her brother in Rae Bareli.
If Ms. Vadra wins the Lok Sabha bypoll, all three members of the Gandhi family will be in Parliament for the first time.
“Let’s say both the constituencies will get two MPs,” Mr. Gandhi said. He added that the past five years had been “a fantastic and very enjoyable experience” as the MP of Wayanad.
“The people of Wayanad stood with me, gave me love and affection, support, and the energy to fight in a very difficult time. And I will remember this all my life,” he said.
Asked about accepting the position of the Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in the LoK Sabha, and Mr. Kharge asking him to abide by the Congress Working Committee’s resolution to become the LoP, Mr. Gandhi smiled and said,“Dhamki to dee hai as president of the party (he has given a threat as party president)’‘.
Mr. Kharge added that a decision would be taken very soon.
The marathon meeting that preceded the formal announcement on seats discussed the political implications of the decision threadbare. Besides the Gandhi siblings, the meeting was attended by Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, and general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal.
“As per law, he (Mr. Gandhi) has to vacate one seat and can continue on one. Tomorrow (Tuesday) is the last date to do so. The party decided that Rahul Gandhi-ji should retain the Rae Bareli seat. The Gandhi family has been contesting from the seat for generations now, and the people of Rae Bareli, as well as our party workers, think that is good for the party,” Mr. Kharge said.
Mr. Gandhi contested from Rae Bareli in the 2024 Lok Sabha election after his mother, Sonia Gandhi, opted out of the electoral race by moving to the Rajya Sabha. Since 2004, she has represented the seat for five terms. Since the first General Election, the Congress has won Rae Bareli 18 times now, and the seat was first represented by the late Feroze Gandhi, Mr. Rahul Gandhi’s grandfather. His grandmother, the late former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, represented the seat on three occasions.
Besides the family legacy, the party’s calculation is that by retaining the Rae Bareli seat, Mr. Rahul Gandhi will further cement Congress’ alliance with the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party for the 2027 Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh. And by having Ms. Vadra in the Lok Sabha, the Opposition will have an articulate speaker in its ranks.
“The voice of the people will resonate much louder with both @RahulGandhi and @priyankagandhi present inside the Parliament,” Congress MP Gaurav Gogoi said in a post on social media platform X.