Priyanka Set For Electoral Debut In Lok Sabha Polls? Sonia Gandhi Asks Raebareli Voters To 'Stand' By Her Family

Congress leader Sonia Gandhi on Thursday (14 February) said that she will not be contesting the upcoming Lok Sabha elections due to health and age issues.

Gandhi on Wednesday (13 February) filed her nomination papers from Rajasthan for the Rajya Sabha polls.

"Due to health and increasing age, I will not contest the next Lok Sabha elections. After this decision, I will not get the opportunity to serve you directly, but, certainly, my heart and soul will always be with you," Gandhi said in a letter to the voters of Raebareli, a constituency in UP from where she has been elected to Lok Sabha several times.

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The former Congress chief said that her family's ties with Raebareli run very deep as several of Gandhi family members have been elected to the Lok Sabha from the seat.

"The close relationship with Rae Bareli is very old. Our family's ties with Rae Bareli run very deep. In the first Lok Sabha elections held after independence, you made my father-in-law Shri Feroze Gandhi win from here and sent him to Delhi. After him, you made my mother-in-law Mrs Indira Gandhi your own. From then till now, this series has continued with love and enthusiasm through the ups and downs and difficult paths of life, and our faith in it has become stronger," Gandhi wrote. 

"I am proud to say that whatever I am today, I am because of you and I have always done my best to honour your trust. Now on account of health and age issues, I will not contest the next Lok Sabha election," she said in the message in Hindi.

"After this decision, I will not have the opportunity to serve you directly but my heart and soul will always remain with you. I know that you will stand by me and my family in future, just as you have in the past," Sonia Gandhi wrote.

Gandhi's letter to Raebareli voters comes amid speculations that her daughter and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may contest election from the seat.

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