LUCKNOW: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi dropped a subtle hint on Thursday that any of the Gandhi family members might contest from its stronghold of Rae Bareli in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. In an open letter addressed to the voters of the constituency, the present Rae Bareli MP informed that she will not be contesting the elections due to 'failing health and age related issues.'
In the overwhelmingly emotional message, Sonia Gandhi also expressed gratitude to the people of Rae Bareli for their unflinching and consistent support towards her family, since the very first Lok Sabha elections in the country. Gandhi's father in law, Firoz Gandhi had won the seat in the first elections.
“I take pride in claiming that whatever I am today, is because of your unconditional support and I have always done my best to honour your trust. Now on account of failing health and age issues, I will not contest the next Lok Sabha election," Gandhi said in the message.
While making a fervent appeal to continue their support for her family, the former Congress chief exuded confidence that the people of Rae Bareli would have her back as always, despite her physical absence.
"After this decision, I will not have the opportunity to serve you directly but my heart and soul will always remain with you. I know that you will stand by me and my family in future, just as you have in the past," wrote Sonia Gandhi amid the buzz of Priyanka Gandhi preparing to replace her in Rae Bareli as Congress candidate in upcoming Lok Sabha polls.
The 77-year-old Congress leader has been representing Rae Bareli constituency in the lower house of the Parliament since 2004.
Written as an expression of emotions in crisp Hindi, the letter came a day after the former Congress chief filed her nomination papers for the upcoming Rajya Sabha polls from Rajasthan.
The letter starts with, “My family in Delhi is incomplete. It completes after coming to Rae Bareli and meeting you all. My relationship with Rea Bareli is very old and I have received these ties as a mark of good fortune from my in-laws..”
“You all showed me this enlightened path. After losing my mother-in-law and husband forever, I came to you and you all opened your arms for me. I can never forget that during the last two elections, you all have stood by me like a solid rock despite all the adversities,” Gandhi wrote.
Significantly, Amethi and Raebareli are the known bastions of the Congress party. However, party leader Rahul Gandhi had lost his Lok Sabha constituency to BJP's Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.