After silver jubilee in Lok Sabha, Sonia Gandhi turns to Rajya Sabha

By Manish Anand

New Delhi, February 14: Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday filed her nomination paper for Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan. She is seeking to move to the Rajya Sabha after an uninterrupted stint of almost 25 years in the Lok Sabha.

Sonia Gandhi is assured of her victory in the Rajya Sabha biennial election. By vacating the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat, she is seen to be gearing up to launch her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in the electoral politics.

Sonia Gandhi had first contested the Lok Sabha elections in 1999. Her plunge in the electoral politics soon proved to be good for the Congress as the party came back to the power in 2004. She had to make space for Manmohan Singh to become the prime minister after the Opposition Bharatiya Janata Party raised her foreign origin issue.

After the demise of Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi had stayed away from politics. But she eventually entered politics following persuasions by the Congress leaders. She held the post of the president of the Congress for almost 19 years.

But she has been keeping unwell for a few years, and thus she has become least active in the election campaign of the Congress. She was seen in her last election rally in the Karnataka Assembly election.

Her son, Rahul Gandhi, is now the de-facto leader of the Congress. Her daughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, holds most of the election rallies as a nominee of the Gandhi family. The entry of Vadra in the electoral politics is being keenly watched out by the political observers.

Priyanka had in the past also dropped hints of entering the electoral politics. If she enters electoral politics, it may be a first occasion when two scions of the Gandhi family will be in the politics at the same time.

It may be recalled that late Rajiv Gandhi had entered politics only after the demise of his brother Sanjay Gandhi in a plane crash. The Gandhi family has maintained a dynastic line in politics.   

Political observers are, however, skeptical of the balance of power within the Congress if Priyanka enters politics. Currently, she is seen in a supporting role for her brother. But the Opposition leaders believe that Rahul Gandhi has not been able to offer alternative to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.   

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About The Author

Manish Anand

Manish Anand is a senior journalist with more than two decades of hardcore reporting on beats such as Prime Minister’s Office, Parliament, BJP, Congress, Planning Commission, NITI Aayog, and scores of Union Ministries.

His past has been with The New Indian Express, The Asian Age/Deccan Chronicle, and The Statesman.

For about 15 years, Manish was also a regular commentator and host for talks on AIR on foreign affairs.

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