There is a hint of Priyanka contesting from Rae Bareli in Sonia Gandhi’s emotional message to her constituency

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, February 15

Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Thursday said she would not be contesting the next Lok Sabha elections but would remain in touch with Rae Bareli, the segment she has represented in the lower house since 2004 and with which the Gandhi family has had deep-rooted decades-long ties.

“On account of health and advancing age issues I will not be contesting the next Lok Sabha elections. This will not give me an opportunity to serve you directly but I will remain in touch with you. I know in my heart that you will stand by me and my family in the future also, just as you have stood by us in the past,” Sonia Gandhi said in a message to the voters of Rae Bareli a day after she filed her nomination for the February 27 Rajya Sabha election from Rajasthan.

In her note to the constituents of Rae Bareli, Sonia Gandhi threw clear hints that a member of her family could contest from the segment which has remained with the Gandhi family for decades.

Sonia recalled in her message to the voters of the segment that her late father-in-law Firoz Gandhi was the first MP to be elected from the seat after Independence.

“After that my mother-in-law Indira Gandhi represented Rai Bareli and you accepted her. I came to you after losing my husband and mother-in-law and you welcomed me with open arms,” Sonia Gandhi said in her message, adding that the ties of Gandhi family with Rai Bareli were old and deep-rooted.

Sonia also thanked the voters of the Uttar Pradesh segment for electing her in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

“I will not forget the fact that you stood by me through the trying circumstances of the last two elections,” said Sonia Gandhi, promising the voters of the segment that she would see them soon.

Sonia’s message is being widely seen in political circles as a signal that either her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra or son Rahul Gandhi could choose to contest from Rae Bareli in the general election.