Priyanka Gandhi, sister of India’s foremost opposition Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, is ready to contest her first election, ending a long time of anticipation by her supporters.
Ms Gandhi is a descendant of the Nehru-Gandhi household, India’s most well-known political dynasty, and her electoral debut shall be carefully watched.
The 52-year-old will contest the Wayanad seat within the southern Indian state of Kerala after her brother relinquishes it.
A win for Ms Gandhi would imply the presence of all three Gandhi relations within the Indian parliament.
Her mom Sonia Gandhi, former president of the Congress get together, is an MP within the Rajya Sabha, the higher home of the parliament.
Her brother Mr Gandhi gained the current parliamentary elections from each Wayanad and Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli seats.
Mr Gandhi, who has represented Wayanad as an MP since 2019, is giving the seat up as he can solely retain one parliamentary seat underneath Indian regulation. On Monday, he thanked the individuals of Wayanad for his or her “love, affection and assist”.
A date for the by-election is but to be introduced however Ms Gandhi says she is “not nervous in any respect”.
“I’m very comfortable to have the ability to signify Wayanad and I can’t allow them to really feel his [Rahul Gandhi’s] absence,” she mentioned on Monday. “I’ll work laborious and I’ll attempt my finest to make everybody comfortable and be consultant.”
The by-election will mark the top of a decades-long wait by Congress supporters for Ms Gandhi’s involvement in electoral politics.
For years, Ms Gandhi was thought-about the extra fashionable of the Gandhi siblings with many blaming the “lacklustre management” of her brother for a string of Congress defeats between 2014 and 2019.
From an early age, individuals have pointed to Ms Gandhi’s resemblance to her grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi.
Ms Gandhi has been actively concerned within the election campaigns of her mom from the late Nineties. She additionally campaigned for her brother when he actively joined politics in 2004.
Senior leaders have praised her political acumen and her aptitude for participating with individuals.
Ms Gandhi’s official entry into politics got here when she was put in command of the Congress marketing campaign within the jap a part of Uttar Pradesh state, forward of the 2019 basic election.
The Congress went on to carry out poorly in that election and the state meeting polls in 2022, however Ms Gandhi was not blamed. Senior get together leaders mentioned the efficiency was not a mirrored image of her work and consistent with their expectations.
Appointed Congress’ basic secretary in 2019, Ms Gandhi has since overseen the get together’s campaigns in a number of state elections.
Occasion leaders say she’s been essential in stabilising the Congress authorities in Himachal Pradesh state this yr amid insurrection by a few of its personal lawmakers.
On Monday, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Occasion (BJP) criticised dynastic politics in response to information of Ms Gandhi’s electoral debut.
“Congress shouldn’t be a celebration however a household enterprise,” BJP chief Shehzad Poonawalla mentioned.
The announcement of her candidacy, nevertheless, obtained reward from Annie Raja, a member of the Communist Occasion of India (CPI) who had contested towards Mr Gandhi in Wayanad within the current election.
Ms Raja, who misplaced the election by a margin of over 360,000 votes, didn’t affirm whether or not she would run towards Ms Gandhi within the by-election.
However she mentioned, “We want increasingly more girls in parliament.”
