Twenty-six years after her debut on a Congress campaign stage in Sriperumbudur, Tamil Nadu—the site where her father, Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated—Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has officially entered Parliament.
According to reports, she won the Wayanad constituency in Kerala by-polls with a commanding majority of over four lakh votes.
In 1998, Priyanka addressed a crowd in Tamil, urging them to “vote for Congress” during a campaign stop in Sriperumbudur Gopanna, now vice president of the Tamil Nadu Congress Committee, vividly recalls the rapturous response she received. “Her words were drowned out by the crowd’s excitement,” he said, reflecting on the electrifying atmosphere.
Despite her political lineage, Priyanka’s journey was not a straightforward ascent to power. In the late 1990s, she focused on raising her children and managing family responsibilities.
However, the Congress party’s dire need for revival by 2004, during the BJP’s “India Shining” campaign under Atal Bihari Vajpayee, drew her into active politics.
Her decisive entry into Parliament from Wayanad not only marks a personal milestone but also signals her deepening involvement in national politics, further cementing the Gandhi family’s legacy in the Congress party.
