New Delhi:

Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla chided Congress member Deepender Hooda over certain remarks as Shashi Tharoor chanted ‘Jai Hind, Jai Samvidhan (constitution)’ after taking oath as a member of the House.

“He is already taking oath on the Constitution,” Mr Birla commented when opposition members chanted ‘Jai Samvidhan’ as Mr Tharoor took oath as Lok Sabha member.

At this point, Mr Hooda, a member from Rohtak, said the Speaker should not be objecting to this.

“Don’t give me any advice on what I should or should not object to. Take your seat,” the Speaker said, addressing Mr Hooda.

Reacting to the development, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wondered whether one cannot say ‘Jai Samvidhan’ in Parliament.

“People from the ruling party were not stopped when they raised unparliamentary and unconstitutional slogans in Parliament, but when the opposition MPs raised ‘Jai Samvidhan’ slogans, they were objected to,” she said in a post on X.

“The anti-Constitution sentiment that emerged during the elections has now taken a new form, which seeks to weaken our Constitution,” Ms Gandhi said.

“Will the Constitution, on the basis of which Parliament functions, on which every member takes oath, which gives protection of life and livelihood, be opposed to suppress the voice of the opposition?” the Congress general secretary asked.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Thiruvananthapuram:

Priyanka Gandhi’s presence in the Lok Sabha would strengthen the opposition benches and Wayanad would have a very strong person to represent them in Parliament, Congress MP from Thiruvananthapuram Shashi Tharoor said on Tuesday.

Mr Tharoor, speaking to the PTI on the sidelines of his ‘thanksgiving’ campaign in Neyyattinkara Assembly constituency, said Priyanka Gandhi has been a very effective orator during the election campaigns and he was happy that she decided to enter electoral politics from Kerala.

“I think Rahulji absolutely had to keep Rae Bareli, it is a very important signal to the people of Uttar Pradesh and of North India in general.

“At the same time, he did not want to feel that he was abandoning the people of Wayanad and it is better to entrust it to his own sister. So I think it is a wonderful decision,” Mr Tharoor said as he travelled through the constituency in an open vehicle, thanking the voters.

He said the same was his preference for the last few weeks, when it was clear that Rahul Gandhi had to choose one or the other.

“I certainly can mention that this was my own preference for some weeks now when it became clear that he had to choose one or the other and I thought it was the right choice and I applaud it wholeheartedly,” Mr Tharoor said.

He said Priyanka Gandhi could have been a wonderful candidate in Varanasi as well, especially looking at how good the Congress candidate did against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

“I think right now, by winning in Wayanad, which she should do comfortably I believe, she is going to bring a very strong voice to the Parliament. We have all seen her speaking during the election campaign. She is one of the most impressive speakers and campaigners we have got and to have her in the Lok Sabha would be a huge asset to the party,” Mr Tharoor said.

He said it is unfortunate to single out one family and accuse them of ‘parivarvaad’, when this system is ingrained in our culture.

He said according to reports, 15 BJP MPs are from political families and it would be an underestimation as many more would be coming from political families.

“In our culture, dentists want their children to be dentists, artists want their children to be artists and it is there in politics as well,” Mr Tharoor said.

Replying to a question on whether he had given a complaint to AICC, expressing his disappointment over how the Thiruvananthapuram district Congress leaders performed during his election campaign, Mr Tharoor denied it.

“No…no. I have not complained to anyone. We all have done our part, the party workers did their part and we have a victory to speak about,” Mr Tharoor said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi was given a shoutout by party leaders including Shashi Tharoor and her husband Robert Vadra after it was announced that she would be contesting the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala, a seat previously held by his brother Rahul Gandhi.

Mr Tharoor took to X, proclaiming, “No more doubt, here comes Priyanka.” Robert Vadra echoed this sentiment by sharing the same image with folded hands and a heart emoji.

न शक रहा ना शंका
लो आ गई प्रियंका !#WelcomeToWayanad@INCIndiapic.twitter.com/B9YFMouOhP

— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) June 18, 2024

pic.twitter.com/bI0dgvs7HT

— Robert Vadra (@irobertvadra) June 17, 2024

Since her entry into active politics in 2019, Priyanka, 52, has been seen as a potential challenger to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, particularly from Varanasi, and as a successor to Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli. However, the Congress party has now decided to field her from Kerala’s Wayanad. Rahul Gandhi, who recently decided to vacate the Wayanad seat for Priyanka while retaining Rae Bareli, has expressed confidence in her abilities to carry forward his legacy in Kerala.

“I am very happy to be able to represent Wayanad. All I’ll say is that I won’t let them feel his (Rahul’s) absence. I will work hard and try my best to make everybody happy and be a good representative,” Priyanka said.

Her candidacy is seen as a strategic move by the Congress to strengthen its position in a state where the party has performed well in recent elections.

Priyanka’s political journey has been marked by her roles as the general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh and later the entire state. Despite mixed results in the 2019 polls, she continued to bolster the party’s grassroots presence. By December 2023, she had become the Congress’ key strategist and star campaigner for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, contributing significantly to the party’s improved performance, which saw it secure 99 seats, up from 52 in 2019.

Robert Vadra, Priyanka’s husband, who had earlier shown interest in contesting from Amethi, expressed his support as she takes on this new challenge. If Priyanka wins the bypolls, it will mark the first time that three members of the Gandhi family will be in Parliament, with Sonia Gandhi representing Rajasthan in the Rajya Sabha.

“I extend my best wishes to Mrs. @priyankagandhi ji on being declared the candidate by the Congress Party from Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency. I have full faith that the people of Wayanad will bless Priyanka ji wholeheartedly and will make her their voice and send her to Parliament,” Congress leader Sachin Pilot wrote.

Party leader Gaurav Gogoi said, “The voice of the people will resonate much louder with both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi present inside the Parliament.” 

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee chief K Sudhakaran welcomed Priyanka’s entry into Wayanad, stating, “From now on, two Gandhi voices will rise for Kerala in Parliament! Wayanad is stepping into history.” 

New Delhi:

The Congress decision to have Rahul Gandhi retain Raebareli and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contest from the seat he is vacating, Kerala’s Wayanad, is seen as one of the party’s better planned strategic moves. It is expected to give it a firm foothold in both north and south — necessary groundwork for future elections.

Raebareli is one of the two Gandhi family bastions in Uttar Pradesh, represented for long by Rahul Gandhi’s mother Sonia Gandhi. With the other bastion, Amethi, won back from the BJP by longtime Gandhi family loyalist KL Sharma, it gives back the Congress its firm base that once made it the undisputed choice of Uttar Pradesh.

Elections are due in the state in early 2027 in which the Congress is hoping to expand the niche it created in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election.

From just one seat in 2019, Raebareli, the Congress has won six seats. Its INDIA ally in the state, Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, 37. Their combined number, 43, has reduced the BJP to 33 in a state that for a decade, was seen as its stronghold.

Having drawn blood, the idea now, party insiders hint, is to launch a strong attack on the Yogi Adityanath government in 2027.

But Mr Gandhi’s continued presence in Raebareli has ramifications larger than Uttar Pradesh. The Congress, which has almost doubled its numbers in the Lok Sabha — from 52 in 2019 to 99 — is hoping to stay on the growth curve, which is near impossible without increasing is footprint in the Hindi belt of the north.

The south is another story, where unlike the north, the Congress already rules three states. It won the last year’s assembly elections in Karnataka and Telangana and rules Tamil Nadu with ally MK Stalin’s DMK.

The next target is Kerala, which swung between the Congress and the Left every five years – till it broke the mould in 2021 and voted in the Left the Left for a second term. The Congress is now hoping that anti-incumbency will push the state to its side in 2026.

To that end, the presence of a Gandhi family member in Wayanad is expected to be a huge benefit. While the seat has been a traditional Congress bastion, Rahul Gandhi’s election this year is said to have re-vitalised the party. Of the 20 seats in Kerala, the Congress has won 14 seats, only one down, despite a massive BJP campaign that enabled them to open account in the state with one seat.

In a clear hint of the Kerala Congress’s enthusiasm for the new candidate, senior party leader from the state, KC Venugopal, was seen with Mr Kharge today at the press conference where Ms Gandhi Vadra’s debut was announced.

Mr Gandhi made it clear that his and his sister’s continued presence in both states is a given.

“You are now going to have two MPs, I will keep visiting,” he said in a message to the people of Wayanad. “Two seats (Wayanand and Raebareli) will have two MPs each,” echoed Ms Gandhi Vadra, underscoring her two-decade relationship with Raebareli. As for Wayanand, she said, “I won’t let the people of Wayanad feel his (Rahul Gandhi’s) absence”.

“I will work hard, try my best to make everyone happy in Wayanad, be a good representative,” she added.

New Delhi:

Following the Congress’s announcement that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest from Wayanad, while Rahul Gandhi will retain the Raebareli seat, former Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Rajeev Chandrashekhar on Monday hit out at the party, alleging that there is “shamelessness” and the party is imposing one member after another of their dynasty on voters of Wayanad.

Earlier today, Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge announced that Priyanka Gandhi will contest from the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, while her brother and leader Rahul Gandhi will retain the party’s bastion- Raebareli.

Taking to ‘X’, Mr Chandrashekhar wrote, “There is shamelessness and there is Cong type of shamelessness – imposing one member after another of their dynasty on voters of Wayanad – after shamelessly hiding the fact that Rahul was contesting from another constituency.”

There is shamelessness and there is Cong type of shamelessness – imposing one member after another of their dynasty on voters of Wayanad – after shamelessly hiding the fact that Rahul was contesting from another constituency.

This pattern of betrayal is reason why Cong has seen… https://t.co/W6hKnhKMtA

— Rajeev Chandrasekhar (@RajeevRC_X) June 17, 2024

There is shamelessness and there is Cong type of shamelessness – imposing one member after another of their dynasty on voters of Wayanad – after shamelessly hiding the fact that Rahul was contesting from another constituency.

The BJP leader further alleged that this pattern of betrayal is the reason why the party has witnessed defeat for a consecutive third term.

“This pattern of betrayal is the reason why Cong has seen 3rd poll defeat under Rahul Gandhi”, he said.

The decision of the Congress party came after top party leaders, including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, general secretaries KC Venugopal and Priyanka Gandhi held a meeting at the residence of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to decide which Lok Sabha seat Rahul Gandhi would retain.

Rahul Gandhi, who contested from two seats — Rae Bareli and Wayanad, won both constituencies by huge margins.

Rahul Gandhi won the seat of Rae Bareli by defeating BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh by a margin of 3,90,030 votes. Gandhi had contested this seat aiming to save the lone bastion of the party in the state after he lost Amethi in 2019.

The Congress leader also won the seat of Wayanad, which paved his entry to the Lok Sabha in 2019. He defeated Communist Party of India-Marxist candidate Annie Raja by 3,64,422 votes.

Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi is finally making her electoral debut from the Wayanad seat after Rahul Gandhi vacated the seat by keeping the family bastion of the Raebareli seat.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Congress’s Rahul Gandhi, widely expected to shoulder the responsibilities of the Leader of the Opposition in the 18th Lok Sabha, is not inclined to take up the post, sources in the party have confided. Three senior leaders — Kumari Selja, Gaurav Gogoi and Manish Tiwari — are being considered for the job, sources said.

The Opposition will have a leader in the Lok Sabha after a decade following its hugely improved performance in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls. Ninety-nine of its 232 seats have come from the Congress, and as the largest party in the Opposition benches, it is expected name the Leader of the Opposition.

Mr Gandhi, whose Bharat Jodo Yatra was widely cited as the reason for the Congress boost — the party won 44 seats in 2014 and 52 in 2019 — was expected to take more responsibility in parliament. There has been considerable pressure on him from various leaders on this point.

The post would have given him Cabinet rank, help coordinate better with allies in the INDIA bloc and helped the Congress project a strong face by spearheading the Opposition attack on the BJP in the Lok Sabha.

But sources said Mr Gandhi, who even stepped down from the party chief’s post following the rout in 2019, is not keen on it. He has avoided taking up any post since, sources added.

Mr Gandhi has also decided to represent his mother Sonia Gandhi’s constituency, Raebareli, in parliament, sources said. An announcement is expected this evening.

He will give up Wayanad, from where his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is expected to contest.

The other family bastion in Uttar Pradesh, Amethi, is already back in Congress hands, with long-time Gandhi family aide KL Sharma besting the BJP’s former Union minister Smriti Irani.

Ms Gandhi Vadra had not contested in the general election, choosing instead to focus on campaigning for the party. Sources said she had reservations about all three Gandhis being in parliament, concerned that it would give ammunition to the BJP for its “dynastic politics” allegation. Sonia Gandhi is a member of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of parliament.

Amethi:

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday attacked BJP’s Amethi Lok Sabha seat candidate and sitting MP Smriti Irani, alleging that the region has “suffered” in the last five years as the BJP never thought about its development.

She was here to seek support for Congress’ candidate from the seat Kishori Lal Sharma, who she said has “dedicated his entire life to Amethi”. Priyanka Gandhi, who is the general secretary in the Congress, held a roadshow in Jasi town on the last day of campaigning for the seat that goes to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections.

“He (Sharma) has been associated with Amethi for the last 40 years. He was associated with my father (Rajiv Gandhi) here, he also worked with my mother (Sonia Gandhi) and my elder brother Rahul Gandhi. He has dedicated his entire life to Amethi,” she said while addressing a gathering.

During the roadshow, which began from the Jais bus stand and ended at the Navjeet Intersection, Priyanka Gandhi and Sharma were seen waving at and greeting people from a vehicle. Flower petals were showered on them as the vehicle passed through the town.

“Amethi is my home and family, we have never stayed away from it and never will,” said Priyanka Gandhi, who was in Amethi and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh to campaign for Sharma and Rahul Gandhi, respectively.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Rahul Gandhi had contested from Wayanad in Kerala and Amethi. He won from Wayanad but lost Amethi to Irani.

Targeting Ms Irani, the Congress leader said, “Amethi has suffered a lot in the last five years…” and “these people never thought about its development”. “Rahul was defeated (in 2019) as they mislead you,” she said.

“We understand our responsibility because Amethi is my home and family. We will keep working for this family. Along with Kishori Lal Sharma ji, Rahul Gandhi has also said this is my family and I will keep working for Amethi and Rae Bareli,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Amethi (Uttar Pradesh):

Hitting back at Priyanka Gandhi for claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi does not speak on pressing issues concerning the country, Union Minister Smriti Irani challenged the Gandhis to a debate and to specify any television channel, anchor, place, time and the issue to speak on, of their choice.

“I challenge them (Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi) to pick any channel, anchor, place, time and issue to debate with the BJP. Dono bhai-behen ek taraf aur BJP ka ek pravakta ek taraf, doodh ka doodh, paani ka paani ho jaayega (On one side, there will be the brother-sister duo and on the other side, there will be a spokesperson of the BJP; everything will be clear)…From our party, Sudhanshu Trivedi is enough. They will get an answer,” Ms Irani, who is contesting from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi said speaking to ANI on Wednesday.

In Amethi, Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi by 55,000 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections ending the Gandhi family’s stint on the seat.

Amethi and Rae Bareli — two constituencies considered old turfs of the Gandhi family has again become the point of focus as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has entered the fray in Rae Bareli and the family’s close aide Kishori Lal Sharma has been fielded against Smriti Irani in Amethi.

All India Congress Committee General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has always been active in the above constituencies through back-room to front campaign, is camping in Rai Bareli from Monday and leading the poll front from strategy, management and campaign.

Sonia Gandhi contested the 2019 general elections from Rae Bareli and defeated Bharatiya Janata Party’s Dinesh Pratap Singh by a margin of over 1.6 lakh votes, however, her victory margin came down by 13 per cent as compared to 2014.

Congress had won just 2 seats in Uttar Pradesh in 2014 (Rae Bareli and Amethi). The tally came down to just one in 2019 after the party lost Amethi.

This time, Rahul Gandhi will be seeking to maintain the long-standing family legacy seat in the state, while Kishori Lal Sharma is up against the challenge of Smriti Irani.

Sonia Gandhi won Rae Bareli for four successive terms before she moved to Rajya Sabha this time.

The party, while aiming to register a strong comeback after two historic losses in 2014 and 2019 has a tough task in hand to wrest back Amethi and retain Rae Bareli. But, it is pertinent to note that in 2022 Assembly elections in the state, Congress couldn’t win any assembly seat under Rae Bareli, which shows the task, which means the task in hand, will be anything but easy.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Raebareli:

Launching a sharp attack on the Central government, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said that under the reign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “British Raj-like conditions” are prevailing in the country, with the government policies only benefiting billionaires.

“British Raj-like conditions are prevalent in the country. The policies of the Modi government are not being made keeping in mind the poor but have been made to benefit the billionaires. International reports show that today the condition of inequality in India is worse than British rule,” Priyanka Gandhi said on Tuesday while addressing Congress workers in the Rae Bareli constituency in Uttar Pradesh, where her brother and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is contesting.

“All the institutions which strengthen democracy are being weakened, be it media or Parliament. Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru had fought against the British to strengthen the rights of the people, little did they know that a day would come in independent India when the government would be bent upon depriving the people of their rights,” she added.

She alleged that efforts are being made to change the Constitution, which provides a system like reservation that has changed the lives of crores of people. It is the misfortune of the country that today a person is sitting on the Prime Minister’s chair whose language, behaviour and actions are of low standard, she said.

“We have always given priority to development and have dreamed of a developed and prosperous Rae Bareli. When we got the opportunity, we created employment and development opportunities in Rae Bareli but the Modi government either closed many of the projects started by us or promoted them in its name,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

Raebareli constituency goes to the polls on May 20. In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi won the constituency, bagging 534,918 votes. Her closest rival, Dinesh Pratap Singh, put up a formidable challenge, gathering 367,740 votes.

Rahul Gandhi had been representing the neighbouring Amethi constituency in Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2019, when he lost to the BJP’s Smriti Irani.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a ‘shahanshaah’ (king of king) who lives in a palace but is cut off from the public, responding to the PM’s ‘shehzada’ jibe for her brother Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress general secretary was addressing a public rally at Lakhani in Gujarat’s Banaskantha Lok Sabha constituency to canvass for her party candidate Geniben Thakor.

“He calls my brother ‘shehzada’. I would like to tell him that this shehzada walked for 4,000 kilometres from Kanyakumari to Kashmir to listen to your (people’s) problems, met my brothers and sisters, farmers and labourers and asked how we can resolve their problems,” she said.

Addressing a rally in Gujarat on Thursday, PM Modi had targeted Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, saying Pakistan was eager to make the ‘shehzada’ of the grand old party India’s next PM as the country’s enemies want a weak government at the helm.

“On the other hand is your ‘shahanshah’, Narendra Modiji. He lives in a palace. Have you ever seen him on TV? Clean clothes with not a single speck of dust, not a single stray hair strand. How will he ever understand your hard work, your farming? How will he understand your problems, that you are overburdened with inflation?” she said.

The Congress leader also said that the BJP wants to change the Constitution, and reduce and weaken the rights given to the people through the statute book.

“If you understand politics today, the biggest thing that Modi has done in the last 10 years is to weaken the rights of the public,” she said.

In Banaskantha, which will go to polls in the third phase on May 7, the BJP has nominated Rekha Chaudhary, an engineering college professor and first-timer, against Congress’ Thakor.

(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)