A day after filing her nomination for Rajya Sabha, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has penned down an emotional goodbye for her Lok Sabha constituency Rae Bareli. The 77-year-old said unable to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election due to her “health and increasing age.”
Sonia Gandhi has represented the Uttar Pradesh constituency since 2004. The Congress leader’s next stint is expected to be in the upper house of the parliament, which she will enter from Rajasthan.
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,
Sonia Gandhi has always been a member of the Lok Sabha, beginning 1999. In that year, she had contested from Uttar Pradesh's Amethi, her first general election after taking over as the president of the Congress a year before.
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,
She will be the second member of the Gandhi family to enter the Rajya Sabha after former prime minister and her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi, who had a two-and-a-half-year tenure (from August 1964 to February 1967) as a member of the House.
(With PTI inputs)
Also Watch: Days after ditching Congress, Ashok Chavan and Mlind Deora nominated for RS polls