Priyanka Gandhi's Poll Debut From Raebareli !

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will make her electoral debut from the party's Uttar Pradesh stronghold of Raebareli - a seat won thrice by ex-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi –party sources claimed. 

Priyanka entry now comes after her mother, ex-party boss Sonia Gandhi - said she would not seek re-election from Raebareli, a seat she has won five times in the past, including 2019,. In that election she was the sole Congress leader to win a UP Lok Sabha seat.

Mrs Gandhi's Lok Sabha-to-Rajya Sabha shift - she has been elected from Rajasthan - was supposed meant to signal a shift in party leadership before the general election. As she did so, she made an emotional appeal to Raebareli's voters, which has been won by a member of the Gandhi family in all but three general elections since independence.

After the Congress confirmed Sonia Gandhi's withdrawal from Raebareli, there was speculation Priyanka Gandhi Vadra - whose resemblance to Indira Gandhi, her grandmother, had not gone unnoticed in the constituency - would finally contest an election, sources said.

There were even posters in Raebareli this week urging the Congress to name Ms Gandhi Vadra as its candidate for the prestigious seat. "Take Congress' development work forward, Raebareli is calling... Priyanka Gandhiji, please come," the posters said. The Congress has now responded to that call.