Priyanka Gandhi

Early life and education

Priyanka Gāndhī was born in Delhi on 12 January 1972 to Rajiv Gāndhī and Sonia Gāndhī, as the younger of their two children. Her older brother Rahul Gāndhī is a member of Parliament from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh and 12th Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha. She is the granddaughter of Indira Gāndhī, the former Prime Minister of India, and Feroze Gāndhī, a freedom fighter and politician, and the great-granddaughter of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru.

Gāndhī did her schooling at Welham Girls' School in Dehradun till 1984. After this, both Rahul and she were moved to day schools in Delhi due to security reasons. After the assassination of Indira Gāndhī, because of constant terror threats, she and her brother Rahul were home-schooled. Later she joined the Convent of Jesus and Mary, Delhi. She then completed a bachelor's degree in psychology from Jesus and Mary College, New Delhi, and a master's degree in Buddhist studies in 2010.

In 1997, Gāndhī married Robert Vadra, a Delhi-based businessman, and started using the name Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The couple has two children. She is a Buddhist and practices vipassana.

After being asked to vacate the government accommodation at Lodhi Estate in Delhi, Gandhi moved to Gurugram, Haryana.

Political career

Gāndhī Vadra regularly visited the constituencies of Rae Bareilly and Amethi, where she interacted directly with the local residents. In the 2004 Indian general election, she served as her mother's campaign manager and assisted in overseeing her brother Rahul Gāndhī's campaign. During the 2007 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, while Rahul Gāndhī managed the statewide campaign, she concentrated on the ten seats in the Amethi and Rae Bareilly region, spending two weeks addressing infighting among party workers over seat allocations.

Formative years

Despite Gāndhī Vadra's reluctance to engage directly in politics before her official entry in 2019, she actively participated in election campaigns for her mother and brother in both general and assembly elections. She frequently visited the constituencies of Rae Bareilly and Amethi, where she interacted directly with the residents. This involvement made her a known figure with significant support in these areas, leading to the election slogan in Amethi, "Amethi ka Danka, Bitiya Priyanka" (the clarion call from Amethi is for Priyanka to stand for elections).

Political debut

On 23 January 2019, she formally entered politics after being appointed as the AICC General Secretary in charge of the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh and then as the General Secretary in charge of the entire state of Uttar Pradesh on 11 September 2020.

In October 2021, Gāndhī Vadra was detained twice by the Uttar Pradesh Police. The first detention followed her visit to Lakhimpur Kheri in western UP where eight people were killed following clashes between protesting farmers and the convey of Union Minister Ajay Misra's son. She and several other party leaders were detained at a PAC guest house in Sitapur, which was being used as a temporary jail to keep them for over 50 hrs. The second detention took place in the district of Agra where the Uttar Pradesh Police detained her citing a ban on gatherings, while on her way to Agra to meet the family members of a man who allegedly died in police custody.

2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections

Gāndhī Vadra launched the Congress party's Uttar Pradesh poll campaign from Barabanki on 23 October 2021.

In January 2022, she launched the Congress's manifesto for the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election along with her brother Rahul. The manifesto was focused on youth and women empowerment along with development for the state and also promised 40% of tickets to women in upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

Pivoting the campaign on women's empowerment and participation in politics, she kickstarted the "Ladki hoon, Lad Sakti hoon" campaign in the state. On the day of International Women's Day, she launched a rally in the state's capital Lucknow which, laced with several promises and hopes, saw the participation of women from all over the state.

Despite all her attempts to revive the party in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress Party faced a rout in the assembly elections; winning just 2 out of the 403 assembly seats. Gandhi Vadra resigned as AICC General Secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh in December 2023.

Following the Congress' defeat in the state elections, on 5 August 2022, she took part in Congress's ‘Mehangai Par Halla Bol’ protest against price-rise and inflation and was detained by the Delhi Police.

Member of Parliament

After extensively campaigning for the Congress during the 2024 Indian general election and taking a more organisational role within the party, Gandhi Vadra announced that she would join electoral politics and contest as the party's candidate for the Wayanad bypoll, to succeed her brother, Rahul. She won the election by a margin of 4,10,931 votes. She will serve in Parliament alongside her mother Sonia and brother Rahul. She and her brother are the only sibling duo serving together in the 18th Lok Sabha.

Electoral history

Notes

References

References

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