Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will make her electoral debut from the party’s Uttar Pradesh stronghold of Raebareli – a seat won thrice by ex-Prime Minister Indira Gandhi – sources told NDTV Wednesday afternoon. Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, will return to the Congress’ other UP stronghold – Amethi – which he lost in a shock defeat to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s Smriti Irani in 2019.

Mr Gandhi will, however, also fight from his current seat of Wayanad in Kerala; victory here had allowed him to retain his Lok Sabha status after the last general election.

Priyanka Gandhi’s entry into electoral politics – a long-awaited event – comes after her mother, ex-party boss Sonia Gandhi – said she would not seek re-election from Raebareli, a seat she has won five times in the past, including 2019, when she was the sole Congress leader to win a UP Lok Sabha seat.

Mrs Gandhi last month shifted from the Lok Sabha to the Rajya Sabha – she was elected from Rajasthan – in a move meant to signal a shift in party leadership before the general election.

After the Congress confirmed Sonia Gandhi’s withdrawal from Raebareli, there was a wave of speculation that Priyanka Gandhi – whose resemblance to Indira Gandhi, her grandmother, had not gone unnoticed in the constituency – would finally contest an election.

There were even posters in Raebareli this week urging the Congress to name Ms Gandhi Vadra as its candidate for the prestigious seat. “Take Congress’ development work forward, Raebareli is calling… Priyanka Gandhiji, please come,” the posters said. The Congress has now responded to that call.

The BJP has not yet announced its Raebareli candidate; in 2019 the party fielded Dinesh Pratap Singh, who slumped to defeat by over 1.8 lakh votes in the constituency.

The party has, however, confirmed that Ms Irani will defend her Amethi seat, setting up the first of two blockbuster contests in the politically significant state of Uttar Pradesh.

Days after the Supreme Court pulled him for his remarks on Sanatana Dharma, DMK minister Udhayanidhi Stalin today got some relief from Madras High Court. The court today dismissed a petition, which had challenged the continuation of Mr Stalin and two other DMK leaders as legislators.

The high court observed that Mr Stalin’s remarks were “wrong”, but noted that he has not been convicted by any court yet.

The 46-year-old DMK leader, who is the son of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin, had made the controversial remarks on Sanatana Dharma last September. The remarks, in which he said “Sanatana is like malaria and dengue and must be eradicated, had sparked a massive row.

After weeks of speculation, it has now been confirmed that Janhvi Kapoor will feature alongside RRR star Ram Charan in RC15, her second Telugu-language project. The film will be directed by Buchi Babu Sana.