The last session of the 17th Lok Sabha, which is commencing from Wednesday, could also be the last session of former Congress President Sonia Gandhi in the Lower House. Next time, she may be seen in the Rajya Sabha, instead of the Lok Sabha. If sources are to be believed, in the changed political environment, the party is planning to send her to the Rajya Sabha this time instead of making her contest the Lok Sabha elections.
If Sonia Gandhi gets elected for Rajya Sabha, then Priyanka Gandhi may have to contest elections from Raebareli in place of her mother. Now the question is whether Priyanka Gandhi would like to contest elections from Raebareli. Sources told The Daily Guardian that she is in no mood to contest election as of now.
Raebareli and Amethi were once considered safe seats for the Gandhi family. But in 2019, Rahul Gandhi lost the Lok Sabha election from Amethi. Somehow Sonia Gandhi was able to win the election from Raebareli. Rahul reached the Lok Sabha from Wayanad in Kerala, but leaving Uttar Pradesh, the country’s largest state, was fatal for the party. After he went to Kerala, his sister Priyanka Gandhi took charge and started leading from the front, but she flopped miserably.
Her policy of sidelining experienced leaders and placing a bet on new faces flopped badly. The inexperienced team sank the party in Uttar Pradesh, resulting in the party’s biggest ever defeat in the 2022 assembly elections.
After facing failure in Uttar Pradesh, Priyanka intervened in other states, but there too her efforts came a cropper. States such as Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan are the glaring examples of the same. The party leaders and workers are disappointed after the defeat in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh last year. In the current situation, most of the big leaders are reluctant to contest the upcoming election. After the consecration ceremony of Ram idol in Ayodhya, the situation has changed in Karnataka and Telangana also. The Grand Alliance government fell in Bihar. Similarly, all is not well in Maharashtra too. Rahul Gandhi can definitely win the elections from Wayanad, Kerala. But in North India, Congress is not in a position to ensure the victory of the Gandhi family from anywhere.
In such a situation, the party does not want Sonia Gandhi to contest elections from Uttar Pradesh this time. If Sonia Gandhi loses the election at this age, it will be a big blow for the party. This time, even if opposition remains intact, victory is not guaranteed, given the “Ram wave” sweeping across UP and the rest of the country in the wake of the consecration ceremony. Rajya Sabha elections are to be held next month. Congress may get ten seats. Congress is sure to get one seat each in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. It will be interesting to see whether the party sends Sonia Gandhi to Rajya Sabha or she contests elections from Raebareli.