Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, born on January 12, 1972
She is an Indian politician serving as the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee. She is the daughter of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, the sister of Rahul Gandhi, and the granddaughter of Feroze and Indira Gandhi, which places her in the influential Nehru-Gandhi family.
For the 2024 Wayanad Lok Sabha by-election, Gandhi is the Congress candidate.
Politics:
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has frequently visited her mother’s and brother’s constituencies of Rae Bareilly and Amethi, engaging directly with the local population. During the 2004 Indian general election, she managed her mother’s campaign and played a supervisory role in her brother Rahul Gandhi’s campaign. In the 2007 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, while Rahul Gandhi oversaw the statewide campaign, Priyanka focused on the ten seats in the Amethi and Rae Bareilly regions. She spent two weeks there addressing significant infighting among party workers over seat allocations.
Formative Years
Although Priyanka Gandhi Vadra avoided direct political involvement until her official entry into politics in 2019, she was actively engaged in election campaigns for her mother and brother. She regularly visited the constituencies of Rae Bareilly and Amethi, interacting directly with the local people. Her hands-on approach and personal engagement made her a popular and well-supported figure in these areas. This popularity even inspired the election slogan in Amethi: “Amethi ka Danka, Bitiya Priyanka” (Amethi’s call is for Priyanka).
Political Entry:
On January 23, 2019, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra formally entered politics when she was appointed as the All India Congress Committee (AICC) General Secretary for the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. On September 11, 2020, her role was expanded to cover the entire state of Uttar Pradesh.
In October 2021, Gandhi was detained twice by the Uttar Pradesh Police. The first detention occurred after her visit to Lakhimpur Kheri, where eight people had been killed in clashes between protesting farmers and the convoy of Union Minister Ajay Misra’s son. She, along with several other party leaders, was held at a PAC guest house in Sitapur, used as a temporary detention facility, for over 50 hours. The second detention took place in Agra, where she was held by the police under a ban on gatherings while en-route to meet the family of a man who had allegedly died in police custody.
UP Elections:
On October 23, 2021, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched the Congress party‘s Uttar Pradesh poll campaign from Barabanki.
In January 2022, she, along with her brother Rahul Gandhi, unveiled the Congress manifesto for the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election. The manifesto emphasized youth and women’s empowerment, as well as overall state development, and included a pledge to allocate 40% of tickets to women in the upcoming assembly polls.
Focusing on women’s empowerment and political participation, Gandhi initiated the “Ladki hoon, Lad Sakti hoon” campaign. On International Women’s Day, she led a rally in Lucknow, which drew women from across the state and was marked by numerous promises and hopes.
Despite these efforts to rejuvenate the party and introduce reforms in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress Party experienced a setback in the assembly elections, securing only 2 out of 403 seats.
Electoral Politics:
Following the Congress party‘s defeat in the state elections, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra participated in the Congress’s ‘Mehangai Par Halla Bol’ protest against rising prices and inflation on August 5, 2022, and was detained by the Delhi Police.
In December 2023, Gandhi stepped down from her role as AICC General Secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh.
After playing a significant role in the Congress campaign for the 2024 Indian general election and taking on a more organizational role within the party, Gandhi announced her entry into electoral politics. She declared her intention to contest the Wayanad bypoll as the party’s candidate, aiming to succeed her brother, Rahul Gandhi.
Family:
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was born on January 12, 1972, in Delhi to Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi, as their younger child. Her older brother, Rahul Gandhi, is a Member of Parliament from Rae Bareli and the 12th Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. She is the granddaughter of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and freedom fighter Feroze Gandhi, and the great-granddaughter of Jawaharlal Nehru, India’s first Prime Minister.
She attended Welham Girls’ School in Dehradun until 1984, after which she and Rahul were moved to day schools in Delhi for security reasons. Following Indira Gandhi’s assassination and ongoing threats, they were home-schooled before Priyanka completed her schooling at the Convent of Jesus and Mary in Delhi. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Jesus and Mary College, University of Delhi, and a master’s degree in Buddhist Studies in 2010.