Suspense over Congress key leader Rahul Gandhi retention of Lok Sabha seat, after he has won from two constituencies, was ended on Monday as finally he has decided to retain Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat and will resign from Wayanad.
This will pave the way for Congress general secretary and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to contest the bypoll in Kerala’s Wayanad. The decision of Rahul Gandhi was announced by party president Mallikarjun Kharge.
He said that the decision was taken at a party meeting. “Rahul Gandhi won two Lok Sabha 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, he added.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi said that both Rae Bareli and Wayanad “will get two MPs”. “I was the Wayanad MP for the last five years and the people of Wayanad gave me love, for which I thank them… Priyanka will contest from Wayanad, but I will continue to visit Wayanad and fulfil the promises we made to Wayanad”, he added.
” I’m not nervous at all…I am very happy to be able to represent Wayanad…I won’t let the people of Wayanad feel Rahul’s absence…I have a good relation with Rae Bareli as I have worked there for 20 years and that relation will never break,” Priyanka said after her candidature was announced.
Priyanka Gandhi is finally making her electoral debut from the Wayanad seat after Rahul Gandhi vacated the seat by keeping the family bastion of the Raebareli seat The decision came after top party leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, general secretaries KC Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi held a meeting at the residence of Kharge.
Meanwhile, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said that the people of Kerala like Priyanka Gandhi and she will win with a big margin. “Everybody is happy with the decision. Rahul Gandhi will keep Raebareli and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest from Wayanad,” he added.
Rahul Gandhi, who contested from two seats — Rae Bareli and Wayanad, won both constituencies by huge margins. He won the seat of Rae Bareli by defeating BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh by a margin of 3,90,030 votes.
Gandhi had contested this seat aiming to save the lone bastion of the party in the state after he lost Amethi in 2019. The Congress leader also won the seat of Wayanad, which paved his entry to the Lok Sabha in 2019. He defeated Communist Party of India-Marxist candidate Annie Raja by 3,64,422 votes.