Sonia Gandhi submits her Rajasthani nomination for the Rajya Sabha

Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accompanied former Congress president Sonia Gandhi as she submitted her candidacy for the Rajya Sabha election from Rajasthan on Wednesday. Early in the morning, Sonia Gandhi left her home in Delhi and arrived in Jaipur by ten o’clock. Sonia Gandhi reportedly made the decision to go to the Rajya Sabha due to health issues that made it difficult for her to often visit her Lok Sabha seat.

When she submits her candidacy for the Rajya Sabha elections, Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will probably be there. February 15 is the deadline for submitting the nomination. The election for the Rajya Sabha is set on February 27.

Ashok Gehlot, the former chief minister of Rajasthan, hailed Sonia Gandhi’s nomination in the Rajya Sabha and said that Sonia has always had ties to Rajasthan. Gehlot noted on X that Sonia Gandhi had made several trips to the state, some of which she had done with former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi. “We heartily welcome the announcement of respected Smt. Sonia Gandhi ji as the Rajya Sabha candidate from the Congress Party, who renounced the post of Prime Minister,” Gehlot said.

In a statement, the Congress proposed Sonia Gandhi of Rajasthan, Akhilesh Prasad Singh of Bihar, Abhishek Manu Singhvi of Himachal Pradesh, and Chandrakant Handore of Maharashtra as their nominees.

Following a high-level gathering of party leaders on Monday that included Mallikarjun Kharge, Mukul Wasnik, Ajay Maken, Salman Khurshid, and KC Venugopal, there were hints that Sonia Gandhi would go to the upper house and step away from the election for the first time. Gandhi was given the choice of Rajasthan or Himachal Pradesh by the party, however sources said that Gandhi went with Rajasthan.

Sonia Gandhi, a five-time Lok Sabha MP, led the Congress for almost 22 years, from 1998 to 2022. In 1999, she was elected from Amethi in Uttar Pradesh and Bellary in Karnataka, and she kept Amethi. Gandhi ran for Rae Bareli in 2004, giving Rahul Gandhi the seat of Amethi.

Manmohan Singh, who was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan, is one of the 56 Rajya Sabha members from 15 states that will retire in April.

From August 1964 until February 1967, former prime minister Indira Gandhi served as a member of the Rajya Sabha. Sonia Gandhi would be the second Gandhi family member to join the Rajya Sabha if she does.

Conjectures on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s election debut
There is much conjecture that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would be given consideration for the Rae Bareli seat after Sonia Gandhi decided not to run for the position. On the other hand, the leadership has not yet made a decision on Priyanka Gandhi’s first election.