Priyanka Gandhi: India Congress leader to contest election

For years, Ms Gandhi was considered the more popular of the Gandhi siblings with many blaming the “lacklustre leadership” of her brother for a string of Congress defeats between 2014 and 2019.

From an early age, people have pointed to Ms Gandhi’s resemblance to her grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi.

Ms Gandhi has been actively involved in the election campaigns of her mother from the late 1990s. She also campaigned for her brother when he actively joined politics in 2004.

Senior leaders have praised her political acumen and her flair for engaging with people.

Ms Gandhi’s official entry into politics came when she was put in charge of the Congress campaign in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh state, ahead of the 2019 general election.

The Congress went on to perform poorly in that election and the state assembly polls in 2022, but Ms Gandhi was not blamed. Senior party leaders said the performance was not a reflection of her work and in line with their expectations.

Appointed Congress’ general secretary in 2019, Ms Gandhi has since overseen the party’s campaigns in several state elections.

Party leaders say she’s been crucial in stabilising the Congress government in Himachal Pradesh state this year amid rebellion by some of its own lawmakers.

On Monday, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) criticised dynastic politics in response to news of Ms Gandhi’s electoral debut.

“Congress is not a party but a family business,” BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla said.

The announcement of her candidacy, however, received praise from Annie Raja, a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI) who had contested against Mr Gandhi in Wayanad in the recent election.

Ms Raja, who lost the election by a margin of over 360,000 votes, did not confirm whether she would run against Ms Gandhi in the by-election.

But she said, “We need more and more women in parliament.”