Telangana Congress now pins hopes on Priyanka Gandhi

The party had even finalised Khammam, Nalgonda or Bhongir as the possible constituencies from where she could fight the elections.

Hyderabad: With Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chief Sonia Gandhi becoming a Rajya Sabha MP and Rahul Gandhi being fielded from Wayanad, the chances of AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Telangana are now appearing bleak.

Buoyed with the Assembly election results, the Telangana Congress had passed a unanimous resolution appealing Sonia Gandhi to contest from the State. The party had even finalised Khammam, Nalgonda or Bhongir as the possible constituencies from where she could fight the elections.

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However, turning down the appeal, the CPP chief opted to head to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan. Following this, the Telangana Congress unit shifted its hopes to Rahul Gandhi to consider its plea and contest from the State.

But with the All India Congress Committee (AICC) deciding to field Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad for the second time, the Telangana Congress has now shifted its efforts towards convincing AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi to contest from the State. To this effect, the State leaders are likely to make an appeal again to the party high command. However, considering the political scenario, the chances of Priyanka Gandhi accepting their plea appear bleak.

“It would be good if Priyanka Gandhi considers our request, but ultimately the high command has to take a call,” a senior Telangana Congress leader said.
On the reasons for which the party high command may not consider the State leaders’ appeal, the senior leader said there could be different factors. Already, Rahul Gandhi was being fielded from Wayanad and to make Priyanka Gandhi contest from Telangana would not be wise politically. This could make BJP run a campaign that the Gandhis were more inclined to contest from South India than North India, he said.

Moreover, Raebareli has been Congress bastion since 1999 and Sonia Gandhi had represented it in the Lok Sabha for two decades. Local leaders in Raebareli were also exerting pressure on the high command to get Priyanka Gandhi contest from the constituency, the senior leader added.