New Delhi: Putting an end to speculation that she would quit active politics, the central election committee of the Congress Thursday nominated Sonia Gandhi as its candidate from Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh.
The CEC, which met for over an hour, announced a list of 15 candidates — 11 for Uttar Pradesh and four for Gujarat. Congress president Rahul Gandhi will contest from Amethi, the seat from which he is a three-time MP.
Sonia, chairperson of the United Progressive Alliance, is the sitting Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli, but there were reports that she would not contest again and make way for her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was made party general secretary in-charge of eastern UP in January.
Former union ministers Salman Khurshid (Farrukhabad), R.P.N. Singh (Kushi Nagar), and Jitin Prasada (Dhaurahra) have also been given tickets.
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Health issues
There had been a number of reports that Sonia would retire from active politics owing to her ill-health over the last few years, and make way for daughter Priyanka, on a seat that she has held without interruption since her electoral debut in 1999, and which, alongside Amethi, has traditionally been the Gandhi family’s stronghold.
The former Congress president’s last major public appearance was during a rally in Hyderabad ahead of the assembly elections in Telangana in December last year, while recently, she also addressed the Congress Parliamentary Party’s general body meeting in Delhi.
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A figure of authority and gravitas, several senior leaders from the regional parties feel more comfortable dealing with her.