‘Unfazed’ Priyanka Gandhi gears up for electoral debut, vows to fill Rahul’s void in Wayanad

Since her foray into active politics in 2019, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been touted as a potential contender against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi and as well as a potential successor to Congress stalwart Sonia Gandhi in the family stronghold of Rae Bareli.

However, Priyanka’s party opted to nominate her for the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, a constituency her elder brother Rahul Gandhi secured for two consecutive terms.

Rahul on Monday decided to vacate Wayanad for her while keeping Rae Bareli, earlier represented by their mother Sonia Gandhi. He had won comfortably for the first time from Wayanad in 2019, but lost to the BJP’s Smriti Irani in the family stronghold of Amethi.

In the just-concluded Lok Sabha elections, the former Congress chief again contested from Wayanad and moved from Amethi to Rae Bareli. Having won both seats, he has decided to vacate Wayanad and retain Rae Bareli.

52-year-old Priyanka, whose name did the rounds as the Congress candidate for Amethi, Rae Bareli and Varanasi parliamentary seats, will finally make her debut in electoral politics from the safe environs of Wayanad in Kerala, a state that the Congress has almost swept in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

“I’m not nervous at all… I am very happy to be able to represent Wayanad. All I’ll say is that I won’t let them feel his (Rahul’s) absence. I will work hard and try my best to make everybody happy and be a good representative,” Priyanka said after her candidature was announced on Monday.

“I have a good relationship with Rae Bareli, as I have worked there for 20 years and that relationship will never break,” she also said, adding that both she and Rahul will work together in both constituencies.

After joining active politics, she was made general secretary in-charge for crucial eastern Uttar Pradesh in January 2019 and then the general secretary in-charge of the entire state. Though the performance of her party in the 2019 polls was not very good, she continued her efforts to strengthen the organisation at the grassroots level.

In December 2023, Priyanka was made general secretary “without portfolio,” and she emerged as the Congress’ key strategist and later as the party’s star campaigner for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

She also helped strengthen the organisation, led the party’s campaign in Himachal Pradesh and helped it come to power in the hill state.

Her campaign helped the Congress in the just-concluded general elections, when the party got 99 seats, up from 52 in 2019.

Priyanka is married to businessman Robert Vadra, who had repeatedly expressed his interest in contesting from Amethi in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. The seat was eventually given to family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma, who defeated BJP leader Smriti Irani.

If Priyanka wins the Lok Sabha bypolls, it will be the first time that three members of the Gandhi family will be in Parliament. Her mother, Sonia Gandhi, is a Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan.

“The voice of the people will resonate much louder with both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi present inside the Parliament,” party leader Gaurav Gogoi said.

With the Congress putting up a surprisingly good show in the Lok Sabha polls, Priyanka has cemented her position as her party’s talisman.

“The Congress for a long time was in search of an effective campaigner and in the 2024 elections, Priyanka Gandhi has been a revelation in the way she has responded to Modi. Priyanka Gandhi showed Modi can be countered and played a key role pan-India,” said Rasheed Kidwai, who has authored several books, including “24 Akbar Road: A Short History of the People Behind the Fall and Rise of the Congress.”

Political commentator and former Congress leader Sanjay Jha hailed Priyanka Gandhi as an “outstanding campaigner.”

“Her sharp and prompt rebuttals to Mr Modi’s jibes have worked wonders during the campaign. Her presence has been talismanic,” he said.