New Delhi: To ensure the victory of the Congress in the Karnataka assembly polls, all the three members of the Gandhi family have decided to put their weight behind the party in the southern state.
The Congress has planned a public meeting of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi in Karnataka’s Hubli on May 6. Her son and former party chief Rahul Gandhi and her daughter and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are already campaigning aggressively in the state.
Earlier Sonia Gandhi, Rahul and Priyanka had campaigned together in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli and Amethi, the family pocket borough.
Sonia Gandhi is currently a Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli, while Rahul Gandhi had lost to Union Minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Amethi, a seat which he represented since 2004.
This is for the first time that all the three members of the Gandhi family will be campaigning in the southern state, which in the past had paved the way for their comeback.
Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who had lost in the 1977 general elections from Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli parliamentary seat, a year later won from the Chikmagalur parliamentary seat in the 1978 by-elections.
Similarly, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi too had tried her luck from Karnataka. After entering politics in 1998 to revive the party, Sonia contested the 1999 Lok Sabha elections from Karnataka’s Bellary and Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi and won both the seats.
She had defeated BJP’s senior leader Sushma Swaraj in Bellary. However, after winning from both the seats she chose to represent Amethi in the Lok Sabha.
The Congress, which has lost several state elections in north India in recent years, is trying to make a comeback in the Karnataka assembly polls and thus it has planned aggressive campaigning by Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, who also hails from Karnataka.
The grand old party’s comeback in Karnataka will give a much needed boost to the morale of the party cadres ahead of the assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Telangana later this year.
To ensure the victory of the Congress in Karnataka, Rahul Gandhi has till date addressed 17 public meetings and roadshows in the state while his sister Priyanka has addressed 19 public meetings and roadshows. Even Kharge has been camping in Karnataka and has held several public meetings there.
In view of the crucial assembly polls, Congress in-charge of the state Randeep Singh Surjewala has also been camping there for the last two and a half months.
Last year, Sonia Gandhi had joined the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra in Karnataka’s Mandya and walked alongside Rahul Gandhi.
Sonia Gandhi, who has been facing health issues had stayed away from campaigning. She had last addressed a public meeting in Rae Bareli during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and had then joined a public meeting in Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan in December 2019.
Polling for the 224 member assembly is scheduled on May 10 and the counting of votes will take place on May 13. The ruling BJP is campaigning aggressively in the state with Prime MInister Narendra Modi and several senior BJP leaders holding public meetings.
The Congress is trying its best to come back to power in the state despite facing a triangular contest with the Janata Dal-Secular of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.
