Screengrab showing Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi taking oath as the Wayanad MP, November 28, 2024.
Credit: Sansad TV
New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi made her debut in Parliament on Thursday, as she took oath in Lok Sabha alongside Nanded MP Rabindra Chavan. The Congress leadership was present in full strength for Priyanka who took the oath in a Kasavu saree from Kerala with a copy of the Constitution in her hand.
Before she took oath, Priyanka took part in a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party where her mother Rajya Sabha MP and CPP chairperson Sonia Gandhi as well as brother, Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, too, were present. As the leaders made their way from the CPP office in Samvidhan Sadan to the Parliament building, Rahul Gandhi was seen taking her pictures.
Priyanka’s oath-taking was witnessed by husband Robert Vadra and children Miraya and Raihaan who were present in the visitor’s gallery to cheer her. After she took the oath, she said that she hopes to pick "issues of relevance" in her new role.
“I hope to raise key issues in the House, and fight for my party and my country,” she said. “I hope to help my brother Rahul Gandhi and hope to strengthen the ideals enshrined in our Constitution. For us, there is nothing greater than the Constitution; it is the ground on which this country has been created.”
To thank the people of Wayanad for electing her, Priyanka sent out a post on X expressing her gratitude. “I will make sure that over time, you truly feel this victory has been your victory and the person you chose to represent you understands your hopes and dreams and fights for you as one of your own. I look forward to being your voice in Parliament,” she posted.
Priyanka won the Wayanad seat in a bye-election, vacated by her brother Rahul Gandhi, who won from both Wayanad and Rae Bareli, by securing 6.22 lakh votes. She defeated CPM’s Sathyan Mokeri by more than 4 lakh votes, a margin higher than what Rahul Gandhi got in the 2024 polls.