New Delhi. Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will start her electoral innings as a party candidate in the by-election for Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency of Kerala. Congress announced its candidates for two assembly seats in Wayanad and Kerala, in which Priyanka Gandhi’s name is included. However, the party had announced in June itself that it would contest the elections from the Wayanad seat vacated by the resignation of Rahul Gandhi.
If elected from Wayanad, she will become a member of any House for the first time. She entered active politics before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Since then she has been fulfilling the responsibility of party general secretary. Soon after the announcement of Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election by the Election Commission, Congress released the candidature list of Priyanka Gandhi. Former MP Ramya Haridas and Rahul Mamkootathil from Palakkad have been given tickets in the by-election for Chelakkara assembly seat of Kerala.
In June, days after the Lok Sabha elections, Congress had announced that Rahul Gandhi would keep Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency in Uttar Pradesh and vacate the Wayanad seat in Kerala, from where his sister Priyanka Gandhi will make her electoral debut. If elected, Priyanka Gandhi will become an MP for the first time and it will also be the first time that three members of the Gandhi family – Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka will be in Parliament together.
The Election Commission on Tuesday announced by-elections in Wayanad and Nanded Lok Sabha seats as well as 48 assembly constituencies.
By-elections for Wayanad parliamentary seat and 47 assembly seats will be held on November 13 along with the first phase of voting for Jharkhand Assembly.
Priyanka Gandhi was in the past projected as a potential challenger to Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi and the successor to veteran Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in the family stronghold of Rae Bareli. However, the Congress has decided to field him from Wayanad, the parliamentary seat his brother Rahul had won in two consecutive elections. Priyanka Gandhi was earlier the Congress in-charge of Uttar Pradesh. In this Lok Sabha election, he played a major role in the victory of Congress in Rae Bareli and Amethi.