Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has decided to give up Wayanad Lok Sabha seat and will retain his family bastion of Raebareli.
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge said on Monday that his sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi will make her electoral debut from the Wayanad constituency in Kerala.
As per rules, Rahul Gandhi had to vacate one of the seats within 14 days of the Lok Sabha results, which came out on June 4.
Now that Rahul Gandhi has chosen to stay in Raebareli, his sister Priyanka will contest from the vacated seat of Wayanad in the bypoll.
"Rahul Gandhi won from two Lok Saba seats but as per the law, he has to vacate one. Rahul Gandhi will retain Rae Bareli and we have decided that Priyanka ji will fight from Wayanad," Kharge said while making the announcement.
Priyanka Gandhi said that she would not let the people of Wayanad feel Rahul's absence.
"I am very happy to be able to represent Wayanad and I will not let them feel his (Rahul Gandhi's) absence. I will work hard and I will try my best to make everyone happy and be a good representative.
I have a very old relationship with Raebareli and Amethi and it cannot be broken. I will also help my brother in Raebareli. We will both be present in Raebareli and Wayanad," she said.
Notably, if Priyanka wins the Lok Sabha bypolls, it would be for the first time that three members of the Gandhi family will be in Parliament.
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Kerala - a safe bet for Congress but who may become biggest loser
Kerala will see Assembly polls in 2026, and it may go the Congress way. In 2021, the Left Democratic Front (LDF) could retain power in the state assembly. Prior to that Kerala followed a regular political culture of changing government every five years.
But in 2024 Lok Sabha polls, the CPI(M) had a poor showing in the Lok Sabha polls, winning just a lone seat. The Congress won 14 of the 20 Lok Sabha seats in 2024 while its ally, the IUML, won two seats.
The Congress seems to be confident that Kerala, whether Rahul Gandhi retained Wayanad or not, was for the party to win in 2026. And with Priyanka Gandhi taking over from brother Rahul, the Congress campaign will get a boost as well.
But there is another missive. In 2019, the Congress lost Amethi and Rahul had to take virtual political shelter in Kerala -- where its friendly Left parties helped him find a toe-hold.
Though Pinyari Vijayan could save the Left government in the state in 2021, the CPI-M and other left parties poor show have already made the communists nervous.
The Left parties have already lost ground in West Bengal and Tripura.
Now to lose out Kerala will be a big loss for the communists and that way their political relevance will be in question.
Even from ideological plank, the Leftists face bigger problem from the Congress whose manifesto and other political agenda have turned almost urban Naxal and too much friendly to Muslims -- the community which for long has backed the CPI-M and other Left parties.
ends
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