Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to contest first parliamentary election

Senior party official will serve in Parliament alongside mother Sonia Gandhi and brother Rahul Gandhi, if she wins seat in Wayanad, Kerala

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is the daughter of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and granddaughter of the country's former leader Indira Gandhi. EPA

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the daughter and granddaughter of former Indian prime ministers, will contest her first parliamentary election as a candidate of the Indian National Congress.

Ms Gandhi Vadra, 52, has been an active leader of the Congress, the main opposition party in the country, for more than two decades.

She is standing for election from Wayanad constituency, in the southern state of Kerala, after her brother Rahul Gandhi vacated the seat, party president Mallikarjun Kharge said on Monday.

"I am very happy to be able to represent Wayanad. All I'll say is that I won't let them feel his [Mr Gandhi's] absence. I will work hard and try my best to make everybody happy and be a good representative," Ms Gandhi Vadra said.

Mr Gandhi contested the recent parliamentary elections from Wayanad and Rae Bareilly, the family bastion in the northern state of Uttar Pradesh, and won both seats.

He has chosen to represent Rae Bareilly in the Lok Sabha, the lower house of Parliament. This means there will be a by-election in Wayanad.

Rae Bareilly has been the constituency of his mother, Sonia Gandhi, since 2004. She vacated the seat in February and was nominated to the upper house of Parliament.

Ms Gandhi Vadra has been a formidable campaigner for her brother, mother and other Congress party leaders. She is the younger child of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1991.

Ms Gandhi Vadra's grandmother, Indira Gandhi, was India's first and so far only female prime minister, and the daughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, the country's first prime minister.

Ms Gandhi Vadra, who is married to businessman Robert Vadra, formally entered politics in 2019, when she was appointed general secretary for Uttar Pradesh in Congress’s central decision-making assembly.

India's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party criticised the Congress for nominating Ms Gandhi Vadra to contest the Wayanad by-election, saying the party is engaging in dynasty politics. If Ms Gandhi Vadra wins, she will serve in Parliament alongside her mother and brother.

BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar used X to accuse the Gandhi family of "shamelessly hiding the fact that Rahul was contesting from another constituency".

The BJP has often made accusations of dynastic politics against the Congress. The party governed India for more than six decades after it gained independence in 1947, but had been in decline since the Hindu nationalist BJP stormed to power in 2014.

The Congress won 99 seats in the recent parliamentary elections, despite being written off by critics and political experts. The Congress-led INDIA alliance won 234 seats overall.

The BJP secured 240 seats, short of the 272 needed for a majority. The BJP-led National Democratic Alliance won 293 seats to ensure Prime Minister Narendra Modi remained in office for a third consecutive term.