NEW DELHI: Days after her stupendous victory from Kerala’s Wayanad constituency, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will take oath as Lok Sabha MP on Thursday. The swearing will take place at 11 am, said Congress.
On Wednesday, Congress leaders from Wayanad handed over the election certificate of the parliamentary by-election to Priyanka Gandhi in the presence of Rahul Gandhi in the capital.
With her entry into Lok Sabha, Parliament will see all three members of the Nehru-Gandhi family—Sonia, Rahul, and Priyanka— for the first time in decades.
With a landslide margin of more than 4.1 lakh votes, Priyanka has surpassed the tally of her brother Rahul Gandhi’s victory margin in this seat in 2019.
Priyanka’s entry into Parliament comes at a difficult time for the party, which suffered debilitating defeats in Haryana and Maharashtra. Popularly known as the 'crisis manager' and backroom strategist of the grand old party, it has been keenly watched if she will be able to re-energize Congress and its falling electoral fortunes.
Party leaders also believe that Priyanka’s presence in and outside Parliament will be a game-changer for Congress. There is also a view that Priyanka, a mirror image of her grandmother former PM Indira Gandhi, will take on PM Modi in Lok Sabha with her crowd-pulling oratorical prowess.
The 52-year-old’s debut into the electoral fray came 20 years after she ran active campaigning for mother Sonia in Raebareli and her brother in Amethi during the 2004 Lok Sabha elections.
As she steered the Congress campaign in Uttar Pradesh and other states in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, speculation was intense that the Congress general secretary would be fielded from Rae Bareli, a stronghold of the Nehru-Gandhi family. However, she declined to contest from Raebareli citing organisational responsibilities.
Her pivotal role in the campaign helped the party in winning Raebareli from where her brother contested, and Amethi, where the family’s aide Kishori Lal Sharma took on Union minister Smriti Irani.
Her spouse and businessman Robert Vadra has landed in the Gandhis in controversies involving the real estate business in Haryana and Rajasthan. Priyanka had dismissed the charges as a "political witch hunt."
After her victory, Priyanka wrote on X, "My dearest sisters and brothers of Wayanad, I am overwhelmed with gratitude for the trust you have placed in me. I will make sure that over time, you truly feel this victory has been your victory and the person you chose to represent you understands your hopes and dreams and fights for you as one of your own. I look forward to being your voice in Parliament!"