In it together: As Priyanka Gandhi takes electoral plunge from Wayanad seat vacated by Rahul Gandhi, her entry could change Congress’s dynamics

Aditi Tandon

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s mention in Congress circles evokes this dominant, almost uniform, reaction: “She is a very strong leader, her own person.” To the party rank and file, even a shred of suggestion that the 52-year-old was reluctant to replace brother Rahul Gandhi in Wayanad after he chose to keep Rae Bareli — from the two Lok Sabha seats he had won — is unfounded.

If Priyanka has been named as the party candidate for the Wayanad byelection after Rahul’s decision to vacate the segment, it means she agreed to be named so, they say, insisting that “Priyanka Gandhi is not known to do what she doesn’t want to do”.

No wonder the firebrand Congress general secretary was all smiles when asked if she was happy making a Lok Sabha debut from Kerala rather than Uttar Pradesh, where she has nursed the Gandhi family bastion of Rae Bareli for years.

“I am very happy to be able to represent Wayanad,” Priyanka said as Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge announced her long-anticipated electoral launch.

The launch comes more than five years after Priyanka’s formal entry into politics on the eve of the 2019 General Election. Her first AICC appointment on January 23, 2019, was as general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, and by 2020, she was in charge of the entire UP after Jyotiraditya Scindia, general secretary of western UP, switched camp to the BJP.

The 17th Lok Sabha poll season’s most talked about political entry generated tremendous hype around what late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s lookalike could achieve. The hype died down soon afterwards as Priyanka, despite the repeated display of inclination to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi, never entered the fray. Her launch had been put off for a better day and time.

TIME HAS COME

Since the start of the 18th Lok Sabha poll cycle, it was clear that Rahul and Priyanka would both contest.

The Congress Central Election Committee, in its April meeting, had resolved that Rahul contesting Amethi and Priyanka Rae Bareli would be good for the party and national politics. A hunt had anyway been on for a Rae Bareli candidate after incumbent MP Sonia Gandhi shifted to the Rajya Sabha. In Amethi, the Congress was planning to avenge Rahul’s 2019 defeat by Smriti Irani.

“Delaying the announcement of Amethi and Rae Bareli candidates was part of Kharge’s plans. It was after Wayanad polled on April 26 (Rahul was defending the seat) that the party declared Kishori Lal Sharma as its Amethi nominee and Rahul for Rae Bareli. This prevented wrong signals from being sent to the Wayanad constituents, who could have misunderstood Rahul if his candidature from Rae Bareli had been unveiled with the Wayanad election pending,” says a Congress insider.

Others privy to Congress machinations say Priyanka’s nomination from Wayanad was no surprise. “She was accompanying Rahul more and more, for his nomination, for his roadshow. She even held independent events in Wayanad and addressed a women’s convention. Something had long been in the air,” a party source said.

WHY WAYANAD

Congress insiders flag specific reasons why Priyanka was fielded from Wayanad — she was the natural choice after Rahul, Wayanad is a safe seat and Priyanka’s entry would energise Congress cadres against the rivals, the Left, ahead of the 2026 Kerala Assembly elections.

Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala says Wayanad is a constituency that has stood by the Gandhis, so it was natural that after Rahul vacated the seat, the overwhelming demand of voters and Congress workers was that Priyanka should fight.

“She was the obvious choice. Wayanad wanted its connection with the Gandhis to remain. The decision is in line with the tradition of Congress stalwarts contesting from the South to represent different regions of India,” Surjewala said, adding that Priyanka has proved her credentials and it is natural for her to start playing a role in parliamentary democracy, besides discharging organisational responsibilities.

Kerala Congress leaders, meanwhile, say Wayanad is a safe seat for the Gandhis and Priyanka’s victory is guaranteed. Ally IUML, with a massive clout in Muslim-dominated Wayanad, has welcomed her nomination. Besides, state leaders feel Priyanka can infuse vigour into cadres to take on the LDF in Kerala.

“Rahul Gandhi is seen as close to the Left. The Congress cadres in Kerala find it hard to fight the LDF given Rahul’s proximity to CPM’s Sitaram Yechury. Contrastingly, Priyanka has no ideological baggage. That will help the Congress in Kerala polls,” says a party leader, recalling how despite sweeping 19 of Kerala’s 20 Lok Sabha seats in 2019, the Congress-led UDF had, in a historical upset, ceded power to LDF in the 2021 Kerala elections.

Priyanka will change this, they hope.

THE SOUTH CONNECT

Former Union minister and ex-Congress leader Ashwani Kumar says the decision to field Priyanka from Wayanad signals the party’s personal outreach to Kerala and gratitude to the people who elected Rahul in 2019, one of his toughest times, and re-elected him now.

“This is the first time members of the Gandhi family could be representing North and South in the Lok Sabha at the same time. The move further signals the Gandhis’ emotional connection with the South. Late Indira Gandhi’s victory in the 1978 Chikmagalur Lok Sabha byelection was the start of a new chapter in Congress history,” remembers Kumar. Post the Emergency rout of 1977, Indira Gandhi contested the Chikmagalur LS byelection in 1978 and won, in a move hailed at the time as Congress’ rebirth. In 1980, she contested and won from Medak in undivided Andhra Pradesh. Sonia Gandhi at the time of her electoral debut in 1999 contested from two seats — Bellary in the South and Amethi in the North. She won both and kept Amethi.

“Should Priyanka win Wayanad, which is a given, the Congress will, for the first time, have Gandhi family members as MPs from South India for two consecutive times — 2019 and 2024. Contrast this with the BJP, where the last stalwart to contest south of the Vindhayas was the late Sushma Swaraj against Sonia Gandhi in Bellary in 1999,” a Congress insider says, commenting on the importance of Rahul from Rae Bareli and Priyanka from Wayanad.

PLAYING SECOND FIDDLE?

Many political observers feel Priyanka should have been fielded from the North as she articulates the aspirations of the Hindi belt better than her brother.

They point to Priyanka’s consistent engagement with Amethi and Rae Bareli as the campaigner-in-chief for her brother and mother. “Priyanka appears more rooted in the Hindi belt culture and has a long history of work in the northern states. She has been campaigning in Amethi and Rae Bareli for years, was AICC incharge for UP, was closely involved with Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh Assembly elections. Now, she has been sent off to Wayanad,” says a commentator, lamenting that Priyanka has been “made to play second fiddle to Rahul”.

Congress strategists, however, disagree with this conclusion.

“Anyone who knows the Congress knows that the pecking order in the party is fixed. There is Rahul Gandhi on top and then whoever else. There is respect for the Congress president’s chair but Rahul is the leader,” says a Congress insider, adding that Priyanka is aware of her role in the scheme of things, especially with Rahul expected to become Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

Ashwani Kumar also says the message of the recent decisions is clear. “Rahul Gandhi is Sonia Gandhi’s political heir as he retains the family seat of Rae Bareli. Mrs Gandhi has moved to bring both her children into Parliament. She is in the Rajya Sabha. Priyanka will be a great support to her brother in the Lok Sabha,” says Kumar. He, however, cautions the grand old party against celebrating too much too early, describing the upcoming Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir polls as a “watershed moment for the Congress”.

“The Congress will have to win state polls to consolidate its moral victory of 2024. If reverses happen, the current euphoria will vanish like a bubble,” Kumar predicts.

PRIYANKA RISES

Congress leaders are happy Priyanka has finally taken the plunge. Some point to how Mallikarjun Kharge had a hard time convincing her to take charge of a state in her role as general secretary in Kharge’s new team after he assumed charge as Congress chief.

With Priyanka insistent she would do what the party says but not wanting to be bound to one state, Kharge relented, making her the only general secretary among 12 without the responsibility of any state.

But this time, sources say, Kharge has prevailed by convincing Priyanka to run from Wayanad. “That’s a huge breakthrough,” a Congress source says, noting that Priyanka’s “never-say-die” spirit would be “an asset in the Lok Sabha”.

This leader recalls how on the result day in 2019, Priyanka kept urging Rahul not to give up too soon as he conceded defeat in Amethi too early in the day.

“Even in the recent Madhya Pradesh elections, Rahul had withdrawn completely realising that Kamal Nath was not cooperating. It was Priyanka who kept campaigning till the end. She did the same in Rajasthan, Himachal and Chhattisgarh,” says a Congress leader involved with party strategy.

Insiders also swear by Priyanka’s vote-catching abilities, with four-term Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor describing her as the party’s campaigner-in-chief in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and someone who aggressively countered Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s jibes on the Gandhi family.

Himachal Congress leaders speak of her ability to connect with the masses and accord respect to leaders where it is due.

Pratibha Singh, president of Himachal Pradesh Congress, says Priyanka not only campaigned for the party’s Lok Sabha candidates wherever needed, she even spent time in Himachal last year when it was hit by three spells of extreme rain wreaking havoc.

“I have seen her ability to make a nuanced extempore political speech for over an hour, a rare skill in a leader,” says Himachal Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, crediting the Congress win in the last state Assembly polls to her canvassing.

SOME TEMPER TOO

Priyanka Gandhi is known to have a temper too, with Congress leaders often speaking in hushed tones about her “strong personality traits”.

Those who attended the Congress Working Committee meeting held in the wake of Congress’ second consecutive rout in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls have still not forgotten Priyanka’s outburst over shock defeats, including brother Rahul’s in Amethi.

“Iss sangathan ke hatyaare yahin baithe hain (Murderers of this organisation are seated right here),” Priyanka had said as party stalwarts watched in stunned silence.

A leader who attended that meeting says Priyanka is now a changed person.

“2024 is not 2019. She has campaigned aggressively and we have won 99 seats, up from 2014’s 44 and 2019’s 52. Her presence in Parliament will boost the Opposition morale,” the veteran leader says.

As for Priyanka, she is gearing up for the battle ahead, with the BJP sure to field a strong candidate in Wayanad and the CPI mulling a contest too.

For the record, if she wins, Priyanka will be the 13th Gandhi-Nehru family member to enter Parliament after Jawaharlal Nehru, Vijaylaksmi Pandit, Feroze Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Maneka Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Varun Gandhi, Arun Nehru and Sheila Kaul.

Also, in a first, three members of India’s oldest political family will be in Parliament — Sonia Gandhi and both her children. Provided Priyanka wins.

Rae Bareli: Family bastion, key to Delhi

Behind Rahul Gandhi’s choice of Rae Bareli, held by mother Sonia Gandhi in the 17th Lok Sabha, is Uttar Pradesh’s criticality to Indian electoral politics and the segment’s lasting connect with members of the Nehru-Gandhi clan. Out of 15 Prime Ministers, this state has elected nine, including Narendra Modi from Varanasi.

Also, since the first Lok Sabha election in 1952, Rae Bareli has been regularly returning Gandhi family members to the Lower House. In 1952, Feroze Gandhi won the first election from here, followed by Indira Gandhi, who won in 1967, 1971 and 1980. Sheila Kaul and Gandhi family confidant Satish Sharma also represented the seat until Sonia Gandhi shifted to Rae Bareli in 2004, making way for son Rahul’s LS debut from her old seat of Amethi. Rahul held Amethi from 2004 to 2019 until BJP’s Smriti Irani defeated him. He has now returned as MP from neighbouring Rae Bareli after Kishori Lal Sharma, a Priyanka Vadra choice, won Amethi, delivering a shock defeat to sitting MP Irani this time.