Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday filed her nomination papers as a Rajya Sabha candidate from Rajasthan, a first in her political career and marking the end of an era that saw the leader represent Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha, first as the parliamentarian from Amethi for one term and then from Rae Bareli for the next four.

The day also saw the Congress announce nine other candidates for the February 27 biennial elections to the Upper House.

The party fielded treasurer Ajay Maken from Karnataka and former Union minister Renuka Chowdhury from Telangana. Among the sitting MPs, Abhishek Singhvi will step in from Himachal Pradesh and Syed Naseer Hussain, who is in charge of the Congress president’s office, was named from Karnataka.

The party renominated its Bihar unit chief Akhilesh Prasad Singh and fielded the Maharashtra unit working president Chandrakant Handore from their respective states.

Another sitting MP GC Chandrasekhar was nominated from Karnataka while Ashok Singh of Gwalior was fielded from Madhya Pradesh. The youngest of the lot, M Anil Kumar Yadav who hailed from a Youth Congress background, was fielded from Telangana.

The elections to 56 seats in the Rajya Sabha is scheduled on February 27. The National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is expected to bag 31 seats, the Biju Janata Dal two and the YSR Congress party by three. The Congress is likely to retain 10 seats. Its partners in the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, the Samajwadi Party, the Trinamool Congress and the Rashtriya Janata Dal, are likely to win three, four and two seats, respectively.

Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Rajasthan unit chief Govind Singh Dotasra and leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully were present when Gandhi filed her nomination papers in the Rajasthan assembly building.

Gandhi will fill the seat that will fall vacant in April after former prime minister Manmohan Singh completes his Rajya Sabha tenure. He is unlikely to return to public life.

“We heartily welcome the announcement of respected Sonia Gandhi ji as the Rajya Sabha candidate from the Congress Party, who renounced the post of prime minister. Today her announcement as Rajya Sabha candidate from Rajasthan is a matter of happiness for the entire state and with this announcement all the old memories have been refreshed,” Gehlot said on X.

The BJP, on its part, dubbed Gandhi’s shift to the Upper House as an admission of the looming defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

Two senior Congress leaders considered close to Gandhi maintained that due to her health issues, she opted out of entering the Lok Sabha contest. The former Congress chief began her parliamentary stint by fighting from Bellary in Karnataka and Amethi in Uttar Pradesh in 1999, winning both seats but retaining the latter.

In 2004, she shifted to Rae Bareli as her son Rahul Gandhi made his Lok Sabha poll debut from Amethi. She won the elections in 2009, 2014 and 2019.

Her entrance in the Rajya Sabha also sparked speculation about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contesting the election from Rae Bareli. A functionary from her office, however, added that no decision has been taken so far.

Gandhi will be the second member of the Nehru-Gandhi family to enter the Rajya Sabha after former PM Indira Gandhi, who was a member of the Upper House from August 1964 to February 1967.

Out of the 10 candidates, Chowdhury, who represents the Kamma community in Telangana, is the second woman face.

“During the Telangana elections, she campaigned very hard. The Congress also needs to reach out to the Kammas especially since the state is led by a Reddy (CM Revanth Reddy). It is a small community in Telangana but her nomination is also a signal for the community in Andhra Pradesh,” said Ghanta Chakrapani, director of the BR Ambedkar Open University in Hyderabad.

Handore, who unexpectedly lost the municipal council elections in Maharashtra in 2022 due to cross-voting, is a Dalit and Yadav hails from the other backward classes (OBC). Their nomination is in sync with the Congress’s outreach to these two communities.

The renomination of GC Chandrasekhar, a Vokkaliga by caste, also assumes significance, especially after the BJP forged an alliance with former PM HD Deve Gowda’s Janata Dal (Secular). Vokkaligas are the core vote bank of the JDS even as the Congress is trying to win over the community that has a strong presence in the Old Mysuru belt.

Singhvi and Maken’s nominations were on expected lines. Maken is a key aide of Rahul Gandhi and had contested from Haryana in 2022 but lost to Kartikeya Sharma due to cross voting.

Singhvi, one of the Congress’s ace legal brains, represented West Bengal the last time with the support of the Trinamool Congress. With the Congress reduced to zero in the Bengal assembly, Singhvi was shifted to Himachal Pradesh.

While Hussain is considered a trusted lieutenant of Kharge, Ashok Singh’s nomination surprised many. Singh lost four Lok Sabha polls including a by-election.

If no more candidates are announced, all 56 candidates will be elected unopposed and the Congress will win its quota of 10 seats. Till now, no party has fielded any extra candidate, but the Congress has a narrow margin in Maharashtra, where 41 votes are needed for a candidate to win and the party has 43 members.

The BJP by Wednesday had announced all 28 candidates set to be elected unopposed. The RJD, BRS, Shiv Sena and Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction too, announced their candidates.