Priyanka Gandhi to contest from Bhopal?

Billboards have sprung up across Bhopal city requesting Priyanka's candidature

priyanka One of the billboards that has sprung up in Bhopal demanding Priyanka Gandhi be fielded from the city for Lok Sabha elections 2019

Even as the dates of Lok Sabha elections are yet to be announced, Congress party workers in Madhya Pradesh are demanding that Priyanka Gandhi should contest from Bhopal parliamentary seat. 

Enthused by their recent victory in the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls, small-time Congress leaders have erected billboards across Bhopal city requesting party president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi to persuade Priyanka to contest from Bhopal. The clamour for Priyanka's candidature comes as she has been appointed as Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh East on Wednesday. 

READ: Priyanka entrusted with bringing back Congress's lost glory in UP

“The Congress has not won Bhopal Lok Sabha seat since 1984,” says Congress leader Prashant Gurudev. “This is the best opportunity after 34 years when this seat can come back to Congress if Priyanka Gandhi contest from here.” Gurudev is hopeful that the young voters of Bhopal will come out hugely in support of Priyanka.  

On the other hand, Congress leader Sourabh Saxena has demanded that Priyanka Gandhi should contest from Vidisha, currently represented by external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj. He has even started a social media campaign demanding the same.

Rumours are also rife that Rahul might contest from Chhindwara Lok Sabha seat. The Chhindwara Lok Sabha constituency is represented by MP Chief Minister Kamal Nath who will soon quit the seat. Chhindwara is one of the safest seats for the Congress party. Since independence, the Congress has lost Chhindwara only once, in a bye election. 

However, reacting to the demand from the Congress workers, party's General Secretary Chandra Prabhash Shekhar said, “It is up to Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi from where they want to contest election. We have nothing to say on this.” When specifically questioned on chances of Rahul contesting from Chhindwara, Shekhar said “This matter is for Rahul Gandhi and Kamal Nath himself to decide.”

Earlier, a section of Congress workers had demanded that actor Kareena Kapoor should be fielded from Bhopal Lok Sabha constituency on Congress ticket. Kareena's father-in-law, Nawab Mansoor Ali Khan Pataudi, had his ancestral links with Bhopal Nawab royal family. He had even once unsuccessfully contested from Bhopal in 1989. Kareena is the wife of Saif Ali Khan, son of Mansoor Ali Khan.