Curated By: Sanstuti Nath
Last Updated: February 14, 2024, 13:17 IST
Gandhi, who represented Rae Bareli in Lok Sabha, will not contest the next general election (File Image: PTI)
Sonia Gandhi would be the second member of her family to enter the Rajya Sabha after former prime minister Indira Gandhi
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi filed her nomination papers in Jaipur for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls from Rajasthan. Her son Rahul Gandhi and daughter Priyanka Gandhi, along with former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, PCC chief Govind Singh Dotasra, and leader of opposition Tikaram Jully accompanied her to Vidhan Sabha while she filed her nomination.
Gehlot said that Gandhi, choosing Rajasthan as her Rajya Sabha constituency, will send a positive message among the party cadre and to the people.
“She could have gone to any state and become a Rajya Sabha Member, but if she had chosen Rajasthan, this news would go across the world that it was Sonia Gandhi’s choice. Rajasthan will be discussed across the country as we all as the world…Someone, who is so experienced, is coming here to file her nomination. You can imagine how proud we all are. NDA Government will also be on alert now,” said former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot.
Before filing her nomination, Sonia Gandhi met with the party MLAs in the opposition lobby of the assembly. The Congress is comfortably placed to win one of the three Rajya Sabha seats from Rajasthan for which elections will be held.
It will be the 77-year-old leader’s first term in the Upper House after serving five terms as a Lok Sabha MP.
Gandhi, who represented Rae Bareli in Lok Sabha, will not contest the next general election. A five-term Lok Sabha MP, Gandhi had announced in 2019 that it would be her last Lok Sabha election.
She was first elected in 1999 after taking over as the Congress president.
The Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson would be the second member of the Gandhi family to enter the Rajya Sabha after former prime minister Indira Gandhi, who was a member of the Upper House from August 1964 to February 1967.
As per political experts, Sonia Gandhi’s move to contest from Rajasthan and not from a southern state like Telangana or Karnataka, where the party is also comfortably placed to win, indicates that the Congress’ first family is not abandoning the Hindi heartland.
What Happens To Rae Bareli Lok Sabha Constituency?
With just two months to Lok Sabha polls, speculations are rife that her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra could contest from the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency after Sonia Gandhi opted out this time.
Priyanka Gandhi can also be considered for the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency, previously held by Rahul Gandhi, but a final decision on whether she will contest the Lok Sabha election is yet to be taken by the party leadership, according to sources.
Rajya Sabha Polls
A total of 56 members of Rajya Sabha from 15 states are retiring in April and the election to the seats will be held on February 27. The last date for filing nominations is February 15.
The Congress is comfortably placed to win one of the three Rajya Sabha seats from Rajasthan for which elections will be held.
The seat will fall vacant after former prime minister Manmohan Singh completes his six-year tenure in April. However, the Congress has yet to formally declare any candidate for the biennial Rajya Sabha elections.
