India Congress chief to contest election

Priyanka Gandhi, sister of India’s major opposition Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, is about 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 might be intently 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 members of the family 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 received the latest 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 it up as he can solely retain one parliamentary seat below Indian regulation. On Monday, he thanked the folks of Wayanad for his or her “love, affection and support”.

A date for the by-election is but to be introduced however Ms Gandhi says she is “not nervous at all”.

“I am very happy to be able to represent Wayanad and I will not let them feel his [Rahul Gandhi’s] absence,” she mentioned on Monday. “I will work hard and I will try my best to make everyone happy and be a good representative.”

The by-election will mark the tip of a decades-long wait by Congress supporters for Ms Gandhi’s involvement in electoral politics.

Journalist Javed Ansari, who has reported on the Congress get together for many years, instructed BBC Hindi that he was not shocked by the announcement.

“I think it was a question of when [she would contest] and not if,” he mentioned.

For years, Ms Gandhi was thought of the extra well-liked of the Gandhi siblings with many blaming the “lacklustre leadership” of her brother for a string of Congress defeats between 2014 and 2019.

From an early age, folks have pointed to Ms Gandhi’s resemblance to her grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Ms Gandhi was 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 folks.

Ms Gandhi’s official entry into politics got here when she was put answerable for the Congress marketing campaign within the japanese a part of Uttar Pradesh state, forward of the 2019 common 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 in keeping with their expectations.

Appointed Congress’ common secretary in 2019, Ms Gandhi has since overseen the get together’s campaigns in a number of state elections.

Celebration leaders say she’s been essential in stabilising the Congress authorities in Himachal Pradesh state this 12 months amid insurrection by a few of its personal lawmakers.

She was additionally on the forefront of the Congress’s marketing campaign in Uttar Pradesh state – the place opposition events carried out surprisingly properly – and particularly within the Gandhi household bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli.

“She held the fort for Rahul and that is how he could campaign across the country,” Mr Ansari mentioned.

Political commentator Neerja Chowdhury mentioned it could be fascinating to see the siblings in parliament collectively if Ms Gandhi wins.

“Personally, I believe Priyanka is savvier of the 2. She thinks on her toes and her language is clearer than his,” she said, adding that she will be “watched very intently”.

Congress leaders and workers in Kerala have expressed happiness at the possibility of having Ms Gandhi as an MP from Wayanad.

ND Ayyappan, president of the party committee in the district, said: “It signifies that the household will proceed its ties with the folks of Wayanad.”

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has criticised dynastic politics in response to news of Ms Gandhi’s electoral debut.

“Congress just isn’t a celebration however a household enterprise,” BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla said.

But the announcement of her candidacy received praise from Annie Raja, a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI) who had contested against Mr Gandhi in Wayanad in the recent election.

Ms Raja, who lost the election by a margin of over 360,000 votes, did not confirm whether she would run against Ms Gandhi in the by-election.

But she said, “We’d like increasingly girls in parliament.”