The possibility of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contesting from Karnataka and Telangana has come as a pleasant surprise for both state units.

The development comes amid efforts by a lobby in the Karnataka Congress to persuade the high command to shift Rahul Gandhi from Wayanad in Kerala to Chikmagalur or some other seat in north Karnataka.

“This is great news (about Priyanka) since we will be facing a formidable rival in the BJP in Karnataka, although we did very well in the Assembly elections,” a senior Karnataka Congress functionary said on Monday.

A preliminary survey the party has reportedly undertaken in most of Karnataka’s 28 Lok Sabha constituencies is said to have suggested a favourable response to the possibility of Priyanka contesting from Koppal in the north of the state. One of the state’s most backward areas, Koppal is currently held by the BJP’s Karadi Sanganna.

The Telangana Congress wants Priyanka to be fielded from Medak, which elected Indira Gandhi in 1980.

“Her (Priyanka’s) presence will add to the confidence of our cadres who are fresh from the recent (Assembly polls) victory (in December). I hope she agrees to contest from here and retain the seat,” a Telangana Congress source said.

If the party and Priyanka agree about her being fielded from Karnataka, she will be the third generation from the Nehru-Gandhi family to contest from the state. Her grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had resurrected her political career in 1978 by winning a by-election from Chikmagalur.

D.B. Chandre Gowda had vacated the Chikmagalur seat to accommodate Indira just a year after he had won it during the 1977 general election.

Sonia Gandhi later won from Bellary against Sushma Swaraj of the BJP during the 1999 general elections, in a high-profile contest labelled as a battle between the “videshi bahu” and the “swadeshi bahu”.

Rahul’s candidature from Wayanad is widely believed to have been a factor in the Congress-led UDF sweeping 19 of the 20 seats in Left-ruled Kerala in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. This was seen as a reflection of the voters’ wish to have the next Prime Minister from their state, since many expected the BJP to lose.

The sentiments are similar in Telangana where the Congress came to power for the first time just over a month ago.

A Telangana Congress functionary, however, had a word of caution for the party bosses.

“While we are hundred per cent certain of winning the majority of the (17 Lok Sabha) seats, certain issues need to be addressed before we step into election mode,” he said.

He added that more than 50 state-run corporations remained headless after the Bharat Rashtra Samithi lost the Assembly polls and its nominees vacated the positions.

“Many of us who worked hard for several months before the state polls expect to be appointed heads of these bodies. It’s important to reward those who worked for the party before all of us can switch to election mode again,” the party functionary, who declined to be named, said.