New Delhi: Congress matriarch Sonia Gandhi will stand down from the Lok Sabha this year – 25 years after her first term – leaving behind an impeccable electoral record that is all the more remarkable given her non-Indian origin and the circumstances of her entry to the country’s volatile political landscape.
Ms Gandhi, 77, will not, however, withdraw from public life just yet; this is not a retirement but a repositioning, of sorts. She will move to the Rajya Sabha.
She filed her nomination papers from Rajasthan today and will take over – the Congress has the numbers to guarantee her election – the seat now held by former Prime Minister and party stalwart Manmohan Singh, who may retire after a celebrated five-decade career.
Sonia Gandhi contested her first election from the party stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh and from Karnataka’s Bellary. She won both. That was in 1999, eight years after her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, and she was persuaded to help rescue the party.
In 2004 she shifted to the Congress’ second UP stronghold – Raebareli.
The Congress leader has been ever-present since 1999, serving as a steadying and guiding force for her party, particularly through the political and parliamentary turbulence of the past decade.
Ms Gandhi has held Raebareli since 2004, never polling below 55 per cent. She won the seat even in 2014 and 2019, when the Congress was routed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP, and held it even when Rahul Gandhi lost Amethi. And leaves (very) big shoes to fill for whomever the Congress fields from here in the April/May election.
Comments are closed.