Preparations for Priyanka to contest elections from Rae Bareli, possibility of sending Sonia to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan, discussed in Congress meeting at Kharge’s house
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi can contest from Rae Bareli seat of Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha elections 2024. Former Congress President Sonia Gandhi has been contesting elections from here since 2004. According to sources, this time the party is considering sending Sonia to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.
In fact, for the Rajya Sabha elections to be held on February 27, an important meeting was held on Monday evening at the residence of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge in Delhi. In this, there was discussion on offering the Rajya Sabha seat vacated by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to Sonia Gandhi.
Priyanka Gandhi has never contested an election till date. Rae Bareli seat is considered to be the safest seat of Congress. Since the first Lok Sabha elections in 1952, Congress has lost here only three times.
Sonia Gandhi’s political journey
- In 1997, Sonia took membership of Congress. After 62 days, she became the president of the party. From then till 2017, she remained the president of the party. No one has been president in the Congress party for so long.
- Sonia contested the 1999 Lok Sabha elections for the first time. He contested elections from Bellary (Karnataka) and Amethi (Uttar Pradesh) and won both the places. After this he left the Bellary seat.
- In 2004, she made her son Rahul contest the elections from Amethi seat and herself shifted to Rae Bareli seat. From where he is still an MP. Sonia resigned from the parliamentary seat in 2006 on the issue of Office of Profit and also won the by-election.
- It was at the behest of the National Advisory Committee headed by Sonia that the government played an important role in implementing the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MNREGA) and the Right to Information Act (RTI).
- On October 2, 2007, on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday, Sonia Gandhi addressed the United Nations. The United Nations passed the resolution on 15 July 2007 and this day started being celebrated as International Day of Non-Violence.
- In 2004, 2007, 2009, Sonia Gandhi was included in the Forbes list of the world’s most powerful women. She was one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
- In the 2009 general elections, under Sonia’s leadership, Congress won more than 200 seats for the first time since 1991 and returned to power. This time also Manmohan Singh was made the Prime Minister.
- In 2013, Sonia made a record of serving as Congress President for 15 consecutive years. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the party had its worst ever performance (44 seats) and the NDA government was formed under the leadership of Narendra Modi.
