Sonia's RS candidature proof that Congress knows relevance of Hindi heartland

Jaipur: Congress leader Sonia Gandhi’s Rajya Sabha nomination from Rajasthan is a message that the party accords highest importance to the Hindi heartland amidst allegations of Congress creating a north-south divide to break the country.

Her son Rahul Gandhi represents the Wayanad constituency in Kerala. Telangana and Himachal Pradesh had also offered their RS seats to Sonia but the party chose Rajasthan for her, clearly indicating that Congress cannot afford to ignore the Hindi heartland and that Sonia's candidature from here would send the right signals.

Sonia Gandhi, 77, today filed her nomination for Rajya Sabha after she met Congress MLAs here. She was accompanied by her two children Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and state Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra were present during the filing of the papers.

Congress leaders have welcomed the move as most feel that Sonia’s representation from Rajasthan would motivate and enthuse the Congress workers. Moreover many big names from Congress have represented Rajasthan in the Upper House namely former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, whose term ends now, general secretary, AICC K.C Venugopal and national spokesperson Randeep Surjewala.

Welcoming the move, Gehlot tweeted that “Mrs Sonia Gandhi heartily connected with Rajasthan. When Shri Rajiv Gandhi became the Prime Minister, Sonia accompanied him on a tour of tribal dominated districts. During the famine in Rajasthan, Rajiv ji as PM drove himself for 3 days on a tour of 9 famine affected districts. Sonia ji accompanied him at that time. During my first term, when the state faced severe famine and drought four times, Sonia ji visited many districts several times to take stock of the famine relief works, which the people of Rajasthan have still not forgotten.”

Denying that Sonia’s Gandhi’s entry is a back-door entry, senior Congress leader and former Speaker C P Joshi said she has been winning Lok Sabha elections consistently. “ There can be many factors behind her choice to represent Rajasthan, including health ones. It is part of a well-thought out political strategy of the Congress Party.”

“Congress Party has a stronghold in Rajasthan unlike some other Hindi heartland states, where the party is fighting to keep afloat. Rajasthan has always been a safe place for barricading Congress MLAs, be it from any state,” says Narayan Bareth, senior political analyst.

He adds: “Moreover Sonia Gandhi is an acceptable leader, non-controversial who does not side with any of the camps. Her clean image, leadership qualities, her interest in alleviating the poor through flagship schemes, her ability to stay calm and composed in times of crisis yet not back down from taking hard decisions, are qualities which would definitely enthuse workers.”

Sonia Gandhi had earlier indicated that 2019 may be her last election. She would be the second person from the Gandhi family to represent the Rajya Sabha. Her mother-in-law and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi was a member of the Upper House from august 1964 to February 1967.