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Sonia Gandhi Moves to Rajya Sabha as Congress Names 10 Candidates for Upper House
Polls
Gandhi has become the second member of the Nehru-Gandhi family to move to the Upper
House following her mother-in-law and former prime minister Indira Gandhi, who was
an RS member from 1964 to 1967.

Sonia Gandhi Moves to Rajya Sabha as Congress Names 10 Candidates for Upper House
Polls
File image: Congress leader Sonia Gandhi in the Lok Sabha on September 20, 2023.
Photo: Screengrab via Sansad TV

Sravasti Dasgupta
Sravasti Dasgupta

GOVERNMENTPOLITICS
15 HOURS AGO
New Delhi: Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi will move to the Rajya Sabha. The
grand old party today (February 14) released its list of candidates for the
upcoming elections to the Upper House.

Gandhi filed her nomination in Jaipur, Rajasthan, where she was accompanied by her
son Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and daughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, along with former
Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot and state president Govind Singh Dostara.

With her move to the Upper House from Rajasthan, Gandhi has ended her long stint as
a Lok Sabha MP from Raebareli, which she represented since 2004. The five-time Lok
Sabha MP first entered parliament after winning the 1999 Lok Sabha elections from
the Gandhi turf of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.

In 2004, she contested and won the Lok Sabha elections from Raebareli, leaving
Rahul to contest from Amethi. Rahul, held the Amethi seat until his defeat to union
minister Smriti Irani in 2019.

The Amethi seat has been with the Nehru-Gandhi family since its formation in 1967,
barring a few years in the 1970s, the latter half of the 1990s and in the latest
stint, since 2019.

With her move to the Rajya Sabha, Gandhi has become the second member of the Nehru-
Gandhi family to move to the Upper House following her mother-in-law and former
prime minister Indira Gandhi, who was also a member the House from 1964 to 1967
before contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Raebareli.

With Gandhi now vacating the Raebareli seat, there is speculation that her daughter
Gandhi-Vadra might contest from the old Congress bastion, which has remained with
the Congress and the Nehru-Gandhi family since 1952 when Feroze Gandhi (Indira
Gandhi’s husband) won from the seat.

Seven other candidates named

Along with Gandhi, the Congress also named nine other candidates for the Rajya
Sabha elections. This includes sitting MP Abhishek Manu Singhvi from Himachal
Pradesh, Akhilesh Prasad Singh from Bihar, Chandrakant Handore from Maharashtra,
Ajay Maken, Syed Naseer Hussain, G.C. Chandrashekhar from Karnataka, Ashok Singh
from Madhya Pradesh, Renuka Chowdhury and Anil Kumar Yadav from Telangana.

Singhvi is the sitting Congress MP from West Bengal, but has been fielded from
Himachal Pradesh this time, where the party is in power.

Singh, the state president of the Congress in Bihar is the other sitting MP and may
require the support of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) and the Left to retain his
seat.

Handore’s candidature from Maharashtra comes close on the heels of former

Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan leaving the party for the Bharatiya Janata
Party (BJP) on Tuesday. Handore is at present the working president of the state
unit.

Congress treasurer Ajay Maken has been named from Karnataka, where the party is in
power, alongside sitting Rajya Sabha MPs Syed Naseer Hussain and G.C.
Chandrashekhar.

In Telangana, where the party is also in power, the Congress has named Renuka
Chowdhury who will return to the house if elected after a gap of six years, along
with Telangana youth Congress president Anil Kumar Yadav.

In Madhya Pradesh, where there was speculation of former chief minister Kamal Nath
of going to the Upper House, the party has named Ashok Singh, vice president of the
Congress’ state unit.

A total of 56 members of Rajya Sabha from 15 states are retiring in April and the
election to the seats will be held on February 27. The last date for filing
nominations is February 15.

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