New Delhi: A decade after making her formal entry into politics, Congress chief Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has now determined to battle an election, eyeing to enter Parliament. The occasion has chosen a protected seat for her — Wayanad, the Congress stronghold in Kerala that her brother Rahul Gandhi gained twice as a rank outsider within the final two Lok Sabha Elections. Occasion president Mallikarjun Kharge introduced Priyanka’s identify Monday at a particular press briefing in New Delhi.
Deeply rooted within the legacy of the Nehru-Gandhi household, the daughter of Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and senior Congress chief Sonia Gandhi is already a distinguished determine in Indian politics.
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UP To Kerala — Priyanka Gandhi’s Political Journey And Timeline
Priyanka had for a very long time managed to keep away from the limelight, although the Congress had needed her to affix politics sooner. She was, nevertheless, supporting Rahul and Sonia Gandhi, campaigning for them. She appeared to favor a quiet life, away from the media glare.
That modified in 2008 when she hit the headlines after visiting Nalini Sriharan in a Tamil Nadu jail. Nalini was a convict within the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case.
Nevertheless it was not earlier than 2019 that she formally entered politics. Nonetheless, although she formally entered energetic politics comparatively late, her involvement within the occasion affairs, and affect on it, have been vital for a few years now. She had been actively campaigning for the Congress, significantly within the household strongholds of Amethi and Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh.
Priyanka has typically been in comparison with her grandmother, Indira Gandhi, primarily on account of her look, and partly for her means to attach with the lots.
Her entry into the electoral fray from Kerala is on anticipated traces because the Gandhis didn’t need to “abandon” Wayanad that accepted Rahul Gandhi with open arms and gave him victory with overwhelming margins — of over 3 lakh votes — each within the 2019 and the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections.
Addressing a gathering in Kerala’s Malappuram on June 12, days after the Lok Sabha verdict, Rahul had stated he was in a dilemma as to which seat he ought to hold. He, nevertheless, the choice he would take would make each constituencies pleased.
It’s to be seen how Priyanka fares within the bypoll, and who she finds as rival candidates from the CPM and the BJP.
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Priyanka Gandhi’s Political Timeline
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra began her formal political journey in January 2019, proper earlier than of the Lok Sabha Elections. She was appointed the final secretary of All India Congress Committee (AICC) in command of Jap UP. Her focus was on reviving the occasion’s fortunes within the politically essential state. The occasion may win just one seat as Sonia Gandhi retained Raebareli.
In September 2020, Priyanka was made normal secretary in command of your entire UP.
Within the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Meeting elections, she performed an enormous function within the occasion, launching a number of grassroots campaigns geared toward ladies’s empowerment and youth mobilisation. Nonetheless, the Congress may win solely two seats, although her efforts have been seen as a essential step in rebuilding the Congress’s presence within the state.
The 2024 Lok Sabha elections noticed the Congress doing higher than earlier than. Contesting as a part of the INDIA bloc, the occasion retained Raebareli as soon as once more — Rahul Gandhi contested from this seat as Sonia Gandhi relinquished the seat choosing the Rajya Sabha path to enter Parliament. It additionally wrested Amethi from BJP’s Smriti Irani, who had handed a humiliating defeat to Rahul in 2019, and gained 4 extra seats. Its INDIA ally SP clinched 37 seats, bringing the BJP’s tally to 33 from 63.
With Rahul on the helm in UP now, Priyanka is all set to play a brand new function in politics if she wins the Wayanad bypoll.
On the private entrance, Priyanka Gandhi did her education from Convent of Jesus and Mary in New Delhi and later graduated from Delhi College with a level in Psychology. She married businessman Robert Vadra in 1997, and the couple has two kids.