A decision on whether Congress’s former president Sonia Gandhi should come to the Rajya Sabha or not will be made in the next two to three days. The party is in considerable dilemma over sending Sonia Gandhi to the Rajya Sabha.
The dilemma is based on the fact that if Sonia is sent to the Rajya Sabha, it will provide another opportunity for an attack on the BJP. This could also have an impact on the party’s morale. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, without taking any name, has also taunted of coming to Rajya Sabha due to the fear of losing in Lok Sabha polls. If she doesn’t come to Rajya Sabha, then there will be a considerable struggle in this changed environment to win from Rae Bareli.
This is because, the party is going through it’s worst phase in Uttar Pradesh elections, with the vote percentage decreasing to 3 percent in the assembly elections. In this situation, the guarantee of victory is not absolutely certain.
It is not just about Sonia Gandhi. A decision needs to be made regarding Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi as well. If Sonia comes from the Rajya Sabha, it is also a significant question of who will contest her seat from Rae Bareli. There is a prevailing opinion within the party that Rahul Gandhi should contest from Rae Bareli instead of Amethi, and Priyanka Gandhi should enter the field from Amethi. The dilemma is, what will happen if they both lose in their respective seats. It means the party may not have even considered such a scenario.
If Sonia contests from Rae Bareli and Rahul from Amethi, then will Priyanka be sent to the Rajya Sabha? If both members of the Gandhi family contest from these seats, the Samajwadi Party may not cooperate. BSP might also refrain from supporting.
However, even after this, winning both seats is not guaranteed amidst the Ram Mandir wave. Rahul may secure victory in the second seat from Wayanad in Kerala. Now Sonia Gandhi needs to decide whether, at this stage of her life, she will personally contest the Lok Sabha election or enter the electoral arena after coming to the Rajya Sabha and fielding daughter Priyanka. The Gandhi family is facing a significant dilemma.
There are ten Rajya Sabha seats on which Congress’s victory is certain. There is one seat each from Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, two from Telangana and three from Karnataka. The names of Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Pawan Khera, Ajay Maken, Akhilesh Prasad Singh, Arun Yadav, Govind Singh, Jitendra Singh, Supriya Shrinate, Youth Congress President BB Srinivas, Vijay