Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi is set to embark in the Rajya Sabha and will submit her nomination papers from Rajasthan for the upcoming Upper House elections, according to party sources. The nomination filing is scheduled for today in Jaipur, with party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, her son Rahul Gandhi, and daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra likely to accompany her.
Gandhi, who previously represented Rae Bareli in the Lok Sabha, has decided not to contest the next general election. With a record of five terms as a Lok Sabha MP, first elected in 1999 after assuming the Congress presidency, she is expected to file her nomination for the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday, a source confirmed.
A total of 56 Rajya Sabha members from 15 states are retiring in April, with elections for these seats set for February 27. The Congress party is well-positioned to secure one of the three Rajya Sabha seats from Rajasthan up for grabs in the elections. This seat will become vacant upon the completion of former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's six-year tenure in April.
If successful, Sonia Gandhi will become the second member of the Gandhi family to serve in the Rajya Sabha, following former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who held a seat in the Upper House from August 1964 to February 1967.
As of now, the party has not officially announced any candidate for the biennial Rajya Sabha elections. Gandhi had previously stated in 2019 that it would be her final Lok Sabha election. Speculation suggests that her daughter, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, could potentially contest from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency after Sonia Gandhi's decision not to run this time.