Wayanad seat for Priyanka Gandhi as Rahul retains Raebareli

New Delhi: Rahul Gandhi will retain the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat and vacate the Wayanad seat, which his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest in the ensuing byelection, marking her entry into electoral politics, Congress announced on Monday.

As the rules allow an MP to represent only one seat in the Lok Sabha, Gandhi had to announce his pick and tender resignation from the other seat by Tuesday. Party chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi also hinted at the latter being open to becoming Lok Sabha's leader of the Opposition, as recently requested by the Congress Working Committee (CWC).

The long-anticipated announcement of Gandhi Vadra taking the plunge into electoral politics from Wayanad seat came after a meeting of party president Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and All India Congress Committee general secretary KC Venugopal, besides the Gandhi siblings, at Kharge's residence on Monday evening.

Given it was a matter within the family, there was no need for a larger institutional meeting of the CWC or Congress Executive Committee to decide the matter, said people aware of the matter. The Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee brass was recently informed about the family's decision, they said.

Announcing the decision, Kharge, flanked by the Gandhi siblings and Venugopal, told media persons, "We all, the party, decided that Rahul Gandhiji will retain Raebareli because it has been very close to him and his family has old ties with it for generations. This was also the sentiment of the people and the party there. The people of Wayanad also wanted him to be there. But the law does not permit it. So, with a lot of thought, we decided that Priyankaji should contest from Wayanad."