New Delhi, January 22
A day after the Congress declared that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are in the party by birth, it today disclosed that they are actually its primary members.
“Rahul and Priyanka are an integral part of the Congress party historically, emotionally and now technically...they are primary members of the party,” Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma told presspersons in response to a question if the Congress membership is hereditary.
Mr Sharma’s casual disclosure at his daily briefing immediately set off fresh speculation that their enrolment could well be the first step before the two Gandhi siblings take a formal plunge into electoral politics. Anybody being fielded as a contestant in an election has to first enrol as a primary member of the party.
As it is, the political intentions of Congress President Sonia Gandhi’s two children have been the subject of a fierce guessing game, especially after their decision to go on a three-day tour of their mother’s constituency, Amethi, at this particular juncture.
Reports that Priyanka Vadra Gandhi might contest the adjoining Rae Barelli seat also gained credence as she spent considerable time in the constituency during this trip.
Although today’s announcement is being seen as a foregone conclusion about Rahul and Priyanka’s entry into active politics, Congress leaders remained as enigmatic as ever on this highly “sensitive issue.”
Mr Sharma furnished no details but maintained that their enrolment as primary members did not necessarily mean that they will be joining politics. “It is for them to decide....they have already indicated they are not averse to politics,” he explained, adding that the final decision is theirs.
Speaking in the same vein, AICC General Secretary Ambika Soni also said that enrolment as primary members does not mean they are joining politics. She chose to describe this move as a “manifestation of their political inclination and intent”, adding that this only means that they support the Congress party and its ideology.
While the party here remained non-committal, there has been a longstanding
demand from its Uttar Pradesh unit that Rahul and Priyanka should either contest the coming Lok Sabha elections or campaign actively for the party. Their involvement, it is felt, will rejuvenate the Congress in Uttar Pradesh and enthuse its cadres.
