The nomination is an indication that the veteran Congress leader is not sure of victory from Raebareli, the Lok Sabha constituency she has represented for five terms.
Her children Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and state Congress President Govind Singh Dotasra are also present. Photograph: ANI Photo
For the second time a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family has chosen to enter Parliament through the Upper House, the Rajya Sabha.
On Wednesday, February 14, 2024, Sonia Gandhi, who is in indifferent health, filed her nomination for the Rajya Sabha election from Rajasthan. Her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi was a member of the Rajya Sabha after her father Jawaharlal Nehru's death.
The nomination is an indication that the veteran Congress leader is not sure of victory from Raebareli, the Lok Sabha constituency she has represented for five terms.
Though the Samajwadi Party has allotted the Amethi and Raebareli constituencies to the Congress for the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the party received feedback that victory is no longer a certainty for Sonia Gandhi.
Defeat in Raebareli would have meant Sonia Gandhi vacating the spacious, 10 Janpath bungalow in the national capital.
After much deliberation, former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Pradesh Congress Committee President Govind Singh Dotasara and Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly Tikaram Jully requested her to contest the lone Rajya Sabha seat that the Congress could win from Rajasthan.
Priyanka Gandhi will gauge the mood in Raebareli before deciding if she will contest the election from a constituency, represented by her grandmother Indira Gandhi and her mother.
He brother lost the 2019 Lok Sabha election in neighbouring Amethi to Smriti Irani.
Once it was decided that Sonia Gandhi would file her nomination for the Rajya Sabha election from Rajasthan, Rahul Gandhi took a break from the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and flew to Delhi to accompany his mother and sister to Jaipur.
The seat falling vacant in April was earlier held by former prime minister Dr Manmohan Singh.
Dr Singh, who was earlier a member of the Upper House from Assam, was asked to contest a bye-election for the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.
Dr Singh, who will be 92 on September 26 this year, is in poor health and is unlkely to contest another election.
The Congress has 70 MLAs in the Rajasthan assembly, which is enough to ensure Sonia Gandhi's electon. She needs 51 votes to win.
The BJP has fielded former MLAs Madan Rathor and Chunni Lal Girasiya for the Rajya Sabha election. They will file their nominations on Thursday.
With no fourth candidate on the scene so far, all three nominees will be elected unopposed.
Sonia Gandhi had an option to contest from Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Telangana where the Congress is in power.
But she chose to contest from Rajasthan to rejuvenate the party which lost power on December 3, 2023.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com
