Since joining the Lok Sabha in 1999, Sonia Gandhi has consistently provided stability and direction for her party, especially during the turbulent political times of the previous ten years.
Congress dame Sonia Gandhi will stand down from the Lok Sabha this time- 25 times after her first term- leaving behind an impeccable electoral record that’s all the more remarkable given hernon-Indian origin and the circumstances of her entry to the country’s unpredictable political geography.
Sonia Gandhi, 77, will not, still, withdraw from public life just yet; this isn’t a withdrawal but a displacing, of feathers. She’ll move to the Rajya Sabha. She filed her nomination papers from Jaipur in Rajasthan moment and will take over- the Congress has the figures to guarantee her election the seat now held by former Prime Minister and party stalwart Manmohan Singh, who may retire after a famed five- decade career.
Sonia Gandhi queried her first election from the party fort of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh and from Karnataka’s Bellary. She won both. That was in 1999, eight times after her hubby and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated, and she was converted to help deliver the party. In 2004 she shifted to the Congress’ alternate UP fort- 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 administrative turbulence of the once decade. In congress and outside she frequently let her associates take centre- stage, but the typically soft- spoken Ms Gandhi was able of sharp attacks, including in September and December last time, when she took the BJP head- on over the Women’s Reservation Bill, and the mass suspense of opposition MPs, In 2018 she ripped into the government, declaring,”.
PM is veritably good at lectures. but lectures can not fill tummies. You need dal chawal. Lectures do not heal the sick. you need health centres.” And in 2015 too she threw down against Mr Modi, this time arguing against his” numerous fraudulent pledges about translucency” in a debate over crucial posts, like Chief Information Commissioner.
Sonia Gandhi’s position as, maybe, the foremost opposition politician, also meant she was constantly the target of attacks, particularly given her Italian heritage, with numerous, including now- supporter Sharad Pawar, questioning her political credentials.
That line of attack was frequently employed by the BJP too. She was, however, infrequently unfazed, indeed when she was indicted of” lying” by a union minister in 2018. Sonia Gandhi has held Raebareli since 2004, noway polling below 55 per cent.
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Sonia Gandhi won the seat indeed in 2014 and 2019, when the Congress was routed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP, and held it indeed when Rahul Gandhi lost Amethi. And leaves( veritably) big shoes to fill for whomever the Congress fields from then in the April/ May election.
Who that will be is unclear but there’s buzz one Gandhi will be replaced by another, and that it’ll not be Rahul. There’s talk Priyanka Gandhi Vadra- whose resemblance to grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has been noted is being readied for her long- awaited electoral debut.
Indeed, Mr Singh’s awaited exit and Ms Gandhi’s prognosticated transfer are only two- thirds of this story, which, if completed to script, will gesture a generational change in the Congress’ top leadership. There has always been a’ will she, will not she’ air about Ms Gandhi Vadra’s political career.
And that has gathered pace over the once months, particularly since her mama stepped into the Rajya Sabha. Five times ago- before the 2019 election- Ms Gandhi Vadra, said she was ready to make her electoral debut at any time, and set speeches wagging after japing” why not” when asked if she’d dispute from UP’s Varanasi, a contest that could pitch her into a head- to- head with Mr Modi.
