Why Rahul Gandhi chose Rae Bareli: Rahul Gandhi contested the Lok Sabha elections from two seats and won both seats with a huge margin. He won the election from Wayanad seat in Kerala and Rae Bareli seat in Uttar Pradesh. Now in the event of leaving one of the two seats, he decided to leave the Wayanad seat and remain as an MP from Rae Bareli seat. Priyanka Gandhi will now debut in politics by contesting the by-election from Wayanad seat. If Priyanka Gandhi wins, she will join the Congress for the first time and this will be the first time that three members of the Nehru Gandhi family will be seen together in Parliament. Sonia Gandhi is a Rajya Sabha MP. However, now the party may also face more criticism on the issue of dynastic politics.
Why did Rahul Gandhi leave Wayanad seat?
According to a report by Indian Express, one of the reasons behind Rahul Gandhi leaving the Wayanad seat is that the party wants to continue the fight in Uttar Pradesh. In his message to the people of Wayanad, Rahul said that now you will have two MPs, I will keep coming, the people of Wayanad supported me, gave me the energy to fight in very difficult times. Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi said that I will not let the people of Wayanad feel the absence of Rahul Gandhi. I will work hard. I will try my best to keep everyone happy in Wayanad and be a good representative.
Congress's great battle in UP
In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the Congress performed well by winning six seats in UP. Because in 2019, the party lost all the seats except Rae Bareli. This included Amethi. From where Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi. In 2019, the party reached its lowest point in UP. Its vote share in the state was just 6.36 percent.
The situation was not very good in 2014 as well. The party won only Rae Bareli and Amethi seats. Then the vote share of Congress in UP was 7.53 percent. However, this time the party contested on 17 seats and left the rest for India Block allies. Out of which Congress won 6 seats and despite contesting on limited seats, its vote share increased to 9.46 percent.
What does Rahul's decision indicate?
In the Lok Sabha elections, Congress contested the elections in UP in alliance with SP. The party's positive results turned the atmosphere in the state against BJP. BJP got only 33 seats. Whereas in 2019 it won 62 seats. With the positive results of UP, the state with the highest representation in the Lok Sabha, the Congress party would also like to give the message that Rahul Gandhi is not leaving the seat and the state which has given him and the party the best results in the referendum.
By deciding to stay on the Rae Bareli seat, Rahul has given a clear message to the party that he will continue his fight in UP and the Hindi belt. Along with this, the positive results of UP will have to be faced by the BJP.
Why Priyanka from Wayanad
Rahul has repeatedly claimed that he has an emotional attachment to Wayanad. The constituency proved to be a boon for Rahul when the Congress reached its lowest point in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and was almost completely wiped out in UP. At that time, the Congress leader also lost his family stronghold Amethi. From where Rahul faced defeat. At that time, some Congress leaders in Kerala also blamed Rahul's decision to contest from the state for the near victory of the party-led United Democratic Front (UDF) in the parliamentary elections in the state.
Apart from this, two years later in the assembly elections in 2021, the party suffered a major setback when the people of Kerala gave a second term to Pinarayi Vijayan. The Kerala branch of the Congress believed that anti-incumbency sentiment was growing against the Vijayan government and wanted Rahul Gandhi to retain the seat. So that the CPI (M) could not raise the issue that Rahul Gandhi had fled to Kerala in search of political gain in UP. Therefore, it was decided to field Priyanka. So that the message could be given that the Gandhi family has not distanced itself from Wayanad and Kerala.
Can Priyanka get hurt?
After removing Priyanka Gandhi from the Wayanad seat, the Congress party may also have to face criticism. Perhaps this is the reason why Priyanka Gandhi was reluctant to contest from Amethi during the Lok Sabha elections. But the Congress party felt that whether Priyanka contests the elections or not, the BJP will continue to attack the Congress on the issue of dynasty. And now perhaps this will increase. Some party leaders say that if the BJP wins more than 300 seats again, then Priyanka may not contest the elections.