Sonia Gandhi of the Congress on Thursday, in an emotional message, informed the voters of her Rae Bareli constituency in Uttar Pradesh that she will not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections due to health and age issues. Sonia Gandhi has represented Rae Bareli constituency since 2004. The 77-year-old Congress leader also threw subtle hints of a possible entry of a member of her family from the Rae Bareli segment.
Sonia Gandhi's message to the voters comes a day after the former Congress president filed her nomination for the Rajya Sabha seat from Rajasthan.
"I am proud to say that whatever I am today, I am because of you and I have always done my best to honour your trust. Now on account of health and age issues, I will not contest the next Lok Sabha election," she said in the message in Hindi.
"After this decision, I will not have the opportunity to serve you directly but my heart and soul will always remain with you. I know that you will stand by me and my family in future, just as you have in the past," Sonia Gandhi wrote.
Speculation is rife that Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra could contest from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency this time.
{{/usCountry}}Speculation is rife that Sonia Gandhi's daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra could contest from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency this time.
{{/usCountry}}Taking a dig at the Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala questioned the party's formal “association” with Uttar Pradesh in future and said that the Congress was scared of losing Rae Bareli.
"One thing is clear with this nomination that the Gandhi family will no longer formally have any association with Uttar Pradesh...Uttar Pradesh nurtured the family politically. First, they lost Amethi and now they have come to know that perhaps they are going to lose the seat in Raebareli also."
It's noteworthy that Amethi and Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh used to be strong grounds for the Congress. However, party leader Rahul Gandhi lost his Lok Sabha constituency to BJP's Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier on Wednesday, Rajasthan BJP spokesperson, Laxmikant Bhardwaj launched a scathing attack at the Congress.
"The Congress party has been ruling Rajasthan for five years and committed atrocities against people, especially women. Rajasthan has reached the number one position in terms of crimes against women. Sonia Gandhi maintained silence on it. She kept protecting the Rajasthan government despite grave failures," Laxmikant Bhardwaj said.