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Priyanka debunks talk of taking on NaMo
Priyanka Gandhi Debunks Talk of Taking on NaMo. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday told a private channel that there was no proposal for her to run against Narendra Modi in Varanasi, but stressed that her family including brother Rahul have told her they would whole-heartedly back her if she ever decides to contest an election.
- Says there was no such proposal
- Family backing always there if she decides to enter fray
- Decision not to contest is her own
New Delhi: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday told a private channel that there was no proposal for her to run against Narendra Modi in Varanasi, but stressed that her family including brother Rahul have told her they would whole-heartedly back her if she ever decides to contest an election.
"My brother has expressed to me many times that he thinks I should contest,' she said, adding that she will for now continue to focus on managing the campaigns of Rahul and Sonia Gandhi in their constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.
"My decision to not contest is personal. I will only change it when I feel from within I should."
A newspaper reported that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had indicated that she was open to taking on the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi in Varanasi in UP, but the proposal was shot down by senior Congress leaders.
Her statement to NDTV refutes reported concerns that a larger and directly political role for her could overshadow older brother, Rahul, who is fronting the national election campaign for the Congress.
Sonia prefers Rahul over Priyanka
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is the trump card of the Congress but would be used only when there is no other option for the party to revive itself. Priyanka unlike Rahul has been prevented by her mother, who is keen to pass on the mantle of leadership to her son, as per the Hindu traditions.
Sources in the Congress stated that Priyanka was never interested to contest against Modi from Varanasi and even if she was, there was no question of allowing her as the fight was not against Modi but Kejriwal as well. Even if Priyanka would have won from Varanasi, the Congress could not have formed the government at the Centre. It would only have served the purpose of sidelining her brother Rahul Gandhi, whom she loves, the most.
Congress leaders confided that senior leaders in the party, way back in 1999, wanted Priyanka Gandhi to contest from Bellary but Congress president Sonia Gandhi put her foot down and instead decided to contest herself from the Southern state in addition to contesting from Amethi. Sonia at that time had clearly told the senior leaders of the Congress that she would bring Rahul Gandhi into politics and not her daughter.
