A right mix of political thought, emotional concerns and realpolitik seems to have gone into the Congress’ decision to launch Priyanka Gandhi into electoral politics from Kerala's Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, where a bypoll is imminent within six months.
The Opposition party on Monday announced Rahul Gandhi’s decision to relinquish the Wayanad seat and retain Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh. While it is politically wise for Rahul to retain the seat in the Hindi heartland at a time when the Congress has shown signs of a resurgence, the party’s decision to replace him with his sister in Wayanad appears to be a well-thought-out strategy.
In Wayanad, a little known constituency until Rahul’s surprise entry and thumping win in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Congress must have found the perfect ground for Priyanka’s launch into electoral race. The timing is also perfect.
Congress general secretary (organization) K C Venugopal on Monday said the decision was taken after a discussion that lasted for two-and-a-half hours. Though he did not reveal what prompted the decision, party sources say Rahul’s emotional attachment to the constituency, which gave him the confidence to fight back even as his family fiefdom of Amethi delivered a shock defeat, topped the list of reasons behind picking Priyanka for Wayanad.
Time to launch Brand Priyanka
Priyanka has been active in Congress for years and played a crucial role in rebuilding the party's support base in UP. In normal circumstances she would have contested the election from a Congress stronghold in the north, most probably Amethi or Raebareli. However, the BJP upsurge changed the political equations and the Congress learned it the hard way in 2019 with Rahul’s defeat in Amethi.
The Gandhi family must have been waiting for the right time to introduce Priyanka to the electoral fray. With the party touching three-digit mark in the Lok Sabha this year after two terms of being relegated into a nominal Opposition, the Congress camp seems to have regained some confidence, which has been missing in the organisation for long. The thought of ‘if-not-now, when’ must have prompted the party leadership to pick Priyanka for Wayanad.
She has been a star campaigner of the Congress in the past few elections and she has already proved her mettle as an effective communicator and narrative setter. The bypoll, in all likelihood, will be a cakewalk for Priyanka as Wayanad is a stronghold of Congress and its trusted ally Indian Union Muslim League (IUML). Rahul was elected from Wayanad in 2019 by a record margin of 4.3 lakh votes while he repeated the thumping win in 2024 by 3,64,422 votes.
Safe exit for Rahul
Had it been for any other candidate, Rahul’s decision to relinquish Wayanad for Raebareli would have hurt the Congress and the leadership, especially those in the state, would have found it difficult to explain the decision to the local voters. Then the predominant political narrative would be that Rahul and the Nehru-Gandhi family ditched the land that gave them the necessary fuel to survive amid onslaught of BJP. Now with the entry of the Gandhi sibling, those questions remain largely answered.
For Priyanka, Congress’ campaign machinery is most likely to work as efficiently as it did for her brother in Wayanad. The Gandhi siblings have repeatedly made some emotional appeal to the people of Wayanad. The latest is Rahul’s comment that both Wayanad and Raebareli will have two MPs, him and his sister. It could also be that the Gandhi scions want to nurture a safe seat in the south.
South focus
In the larger picture, Priyanka’s candidature and potential win from the Kerala constituency is part of the Congress’ attempt to keep its support base in the south intact. With Rahul focusing on the north, Priyanka can be the party’s unifying face in the south where it rules two states – Karnataka and Telangana – on its own and a third -- Tamil Nadu -- in alliance with DMK.
Kerala prospects
Priyanka’s presence as a Congress MP from the state can boost the party’s chances in the assembly elections due in 2026. Despite its stunning performance in the 2019 and 2024 Lok Sabha polls in the state, nothing less than an authentic win in the next state elections for the Congress can undo the damage inflicted by the shock defeat in 2021. The IUML, while pitching for Priyanka’s candidature in Wayanad in case of Rahul vacating the seat, had already said that her presence would improve the Congress-led UDF’s chances in the state. In an informal post-election analysis with leaders from the state, Priyanka was heard asking about the party’s chances in the state polls. It seems she is keen about Kerala.
No more Wayanad dilemma
With the central leadership taking the crucial decision about who would replace Rahul, the Congress’ state leadership has been spared from what could have been its dilemma of the decade. Choosing a candidate from the state could have been an uphill task, considering the factional and community equations. The Samastha Kerala Jem-Iyyathul Ulama, a prominent Muslim organisation, had already asked the Congress to consider fielding a Muslim candidate in Wayanad if Rahul vacates the seat.
It would have been obviously difficult for the party to consider the demand especially after leaving a Rajya Sabha seat to the IUML as a compromise for its pitch for a third Lok Sabha seat. The Congress already has a Muslim MP-elect in Shafi Parambil while IUML has two. In Priyanka, like in Rahul, the Congress has a candidate who can easily breach community lines.