vi style command recall not working inside anaconda python interpreter on ubuntu noble

On Ubuntu Noble(24.04), I have anaconda version 25.7.0 installed.

With $HOME/.inputrc containing the line

set editing-mode vi

previous command recall using 'escape k' key sequence not working inside pythoninterpreter invoked using /usr/local/anaconda3/bin/python.

Version of python interpreter is 3.13.5