New Delhi: The entire Congress had been waiting for this day, Gandhi family loyalist and Amethi MP KL Sharma said as Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra filed her nomination from Kerala’s Wayanad parliamentary seat.
Sharma, who used to manage the Gandhi family strongholds Amethi and Raebareli parliamentary constituencies in Uttar Pradesh over the past four decades, recalled how Priyanka had introduced her brother to the voters ahead of Rahul's debut election in Amethi in 2004.
Two decades later, Rahul Gandhi introduced his sister to the voters of Wayanad which he represented in the Lok Sabha from 2019 to 2024.
"It was an emotional moment for me today. The people of Wayanad had come out to cheer for Priyanka Gandhi in large numbers. When Indira Gandhi had won from Andhra Pradesh's Medak seat in 1980, the people in the south used to call her Indiramma. Today, they saw Indiramma in Priyanka Gandhi,” Amethi MP KL Sharma, who attended the nomination, told ETV Bharat.
Sharma’s own electoral debut was quite dramatic. He had been assisting Priyanka Gandhi in managing the Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seats for the past forty years and was doing the groundwork for the 2024 polls amid speculation that Rahul, who had lost Amethi in 2019, may contest from his former seat again while Priyanka Gandhi may replace her mother Sonia Gandhi, who had moved to the Rajya Sabha, in Raebareli.
As fate would have it, Rahul decided to contest Raebareli and family loyalist Sharma was named the Congress candidate from Amethi as Priyanka declined to join the contest.
"She had declined to contest the main Lok Sabha elections as she was busy with party work but after Rahul Gandhi decided to retain the Rae Bareli seat, the workers of Wayanad made an emotional appeal that a member of the Gandhi family must represent them in the House. It was then that Priyanka Gandhi agreed to contest the by-election," said Sharma.
"She urged the Amethi voters to elect me and they responded accordingly. I was overwhelmed when I won the election. She worked hard in Raebareli as well for Rahul. I have seen their bond as siblings for years. In 2004, Priyanka had introduced Rahul to the various women’s self-help groups before the Lok Sabha election. She had been visiting the area along with her father Rajiv Gandhi since 1989," he said.
According to the Amethi MP, Priyanka’s presence in the Lok Sabha would energise the party lawmakers and would add to the level of debates.
"She is a sharp speaker and a natural leader. She will work closely with Rahul Gandhi in strengthening the party and the Opposition. She has been working closely with party functionaries across the country over the past decades. It was her decision to stay away from active politics till she accepted an All India Congress Committee (AICC) post in 2019 and an electoral debut now but the party workers had been waiting for this day all along. It is like the beginning of a new era in the Congress," said Sharma.
