Rahul Gandhi Picks Raebareli; Priyanka Gandhi To Make Her Electoral Debut In Wayanad
Amid speculations, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge announced that party leader Rahul Gandhi will vacate the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in favour of the party and family bastion Raebareli. Taking up the Wayanad seat is sister and party General Secretary, Priyanka Gandhi finally making her electoral debut.
Since the past few days, there have been strong buzz of Rahul choosing Raebareli over Wayanad and the party fielding sister Priyanka for Wayanad. Rahul Gandhi himself had hinted that the decision would make both the people of Wayanad and Raebareli happy.
Priyanka is the Congress candidate for the by-poll from the Wayanad parliamentary constituency.
Read Also: Priyanka Gandhi: Primary Opposition To Brand Modi And Everything He Represents
राहुल गांधी जी रायबरेली की सीट से सांसद रहेंगे.
वे वायनाड से भी चुनाव लड़े, वहां के लोगों का प्यार भी उन्हें मिला है. इसलिए हमने यह तय किया कि वायनाड से श्रीमती प्रियंका गांधी जी चुनाव लड़ेंगी.
: कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष श्री @kharge pic.twitter.com/A2iIr77MkB
— Congress (@INCIndia) June 17, 2024
In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, Rahul had contested in two seats, the party’s bastion Raebareli and Wayanad constituency. He won both the seats, defeating BJP leader Dinesh Pratap Singh in Raebareli with a margin of 3.9 lakh votes and CPI leader Annie Raja in Wayanad with a huge margin of over 3.6 lakh votes.
Although a candidate can contest in two seats during the election, they cannot retain both. As per the law, after the declaration of the results, the candidate will have to resign from one of the seats within 14 days. If failed to do so, both the seats will be considered vacant.
Last week, Rahul’s office had approached the Table Branch of Lok Sabha to enquire about the process for his resignation.
Read Also: “Had She (Priyanka Gandhi) Contested In Varanasi…”: Rahul Gandhi’s Claim In Raebareli Thank You Meet
Today being the last day for the same, the Congress held a high-level meeting with Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, MP Rahul Gandhi, party General Secretary KC Venugopal, and General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi at party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence in New Delhi.
आज कांग्रेस अध्यक्ष श्री @kharge से उनके निवास पर CPP चेयरपर्सन श्रीमती सोनिया गांधी जी, श्री @RahulGandhi, संगठन महासचिव श्री @kcvenugopalmp और महासचिव श्रीमती @priyankagandhi जी ने मुलाकात की। pic.twitter.com/DQOXvhiYXJ
— Congress (@INCIndia) June 17, 2024
Ahead of the Lok Sabha elections as well, there were strong speculations of Priyanka making her electoral debut. However, the rumours were squashed when she decided against contesting.
Despite the political royalty she came from, Priyanka preferred to stay in the shadows for several years. In the early years of her political career, she assisted the election campaigns of her mother Sonia in Raebareli and her brother Rahul in Amethi. During this time, she amassed local support in the constituencies by regularly visiting and interacting with the residents directly. Her official entry into politics occurred with her being appointed as the AICC general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh in 2019. A year later, she became the party’s general secretary for the entire state.
