Sonia Gandhi ends Lok Sabha run after 25 years, is Congress’s Rajya Sabha face from Rajasthan

Gandhi, who represented Rae Bareli in Lok Sabha, will not contest the next general election

New Delhi: Five-time Lok Sabha MP and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi was on Wednesday named the party candidate from Rajasthan, a special report in The Tribune, Chandigarh by Aditi Tandon, says.

With the nomination, Sonia, 77, effectively brings to an end her 25-year-old Lok Sabha run on the eve of the 2024 general election creating speculation about  who would contest from the Gandhi family’s traditional Rae Bareli bastion which Sonia has represented since 2004.

announced Sonia’s candidature as a Rajya Sabha candidate of the party from Rajasthanwas announced by Ashok Gehlot.

“We heartily welcome the announcement of Sonia Gandhi ji as the Rajya Sabha candidate from the Congress. She has a deep connection with Rajasthan. When Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister, she had acompaniied her husband on a 3-day tour of 9 famine- affected districts, to show her sympathy and solidarity with the people”.

Gehlot said during his first term as chief minister, when the state faced severe famine and drought four times, Sonia visited many districts several times to take stock of the famine relief works, which the people of Rajasthan have still not forgotten.

“During the UPA government, as NAC chairperson,she always promoted strongly the interests of Rajasthan by bringing big projects like refinery, metro in Rajasthan and getting cooperation from the Centre. Today, the announcement of Sonia ji as Rajya Sabha candidate from Rajasthan is a matter of happiness for the entire state,” said Gehlot.

Sonia Gandhi had first come to the Lok Sabha from Amethi in the 1999 Lok Sabha poll. She had contested her first general election after assuming charge as Congress chief in March 1998.

She vacated her Amethi seat  in favour of her son, Rahul Gandhi in the 2004 polls and shifted to Rae Bareli which she had represented since.

Rahul won the 2004, 2009, and 2014 Lok Sabha polls from Amethi losing to BJP’s Smriti Irani in 2019.

It remains to be seen how Sonia Gandhi’s Rajya Sabha candidature re-impacts Congress election prospects in the 18th general election. Everyone firmly believes she is the party’s most reliable brand ambassador even today.

Sonia took a step back from active politics after Mallikarjun Kharge took charge as Congress president in 2022, replacing her. She is currently chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party.

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