Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson and former party president Sonia Gandhi on February 14 filed her nomination papers for the Rajya Sabha elections from Rajasthan. The polls will be held for three seats from the State on February 27.
The Opposition Congress is comfortably placed to win one of the three seats for the Upper House, while the ruling BJP is set to get the other two based on its strength in the Assembly. The BJP has already announced its candidates for two seats.
Ms. Gandhi arrived at the Sanganer airport here on Wednesday and went to the Assembly to file the papers. Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra, Pradesh Congress Committee president Govind Singh Dotasra and Leader of the Opposition Tika Ram Jully accompanied Ms. Gandhi.
Four sets of nomination papers, proposed and seconded by the Congress MLAs, were submitted to Election Officer and Assembly Secretary Mahavir Prasad Sharma. Ms. Gandhi met the party MLAs in the Opposition lobby of the Assembly before filing the papers.
There are 10 Rajya Sabha seats from Rajasthan, out of which six are with the Congress and four with the BJP. Two seats are falling vacant on the retirement of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Union Minister and BJP leader Bhupendra Yadav on April 3, while the third fell vacant after the resignation of the BJP’s Kirodi Lal Meena following his victory in the 2023 Assembly election.
‘A matter of happiness’
This will be Ms. Gandhi’s first term in Rajya Sabha after serving five terms as a Lok Sabha Member. Ms. Gandhi, 77, who was first elected as an MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi in 1999 after taking over as the Congress president, now represents Rae Bareli in the Lok Sabha.
Mr. Gehlot said Ms. Gandhi’s candidature from Rajasthan was a “matter of happiness” for the State, as she was heartily connected with Rajasthan and had protected the interests of the State in the past.
“During the UPA government, Sonia Ji, as the National Advisory Council chairperson, helped in bringing big projects such as refinery and metro train to Rajasthan and ensured cooperation from the Centre,” Mr. Gehlot said in a post on X (formerly Twitter). When Rajasthan faced drought four times during his first tenure as the Chief Minister, Ms. Gandhi visited many districts to take stock of the relief works, Mr. Gehlot said.
