Congress springs surprises in Rae Bareli, Amethi Lok Sabha seats
Image credit X @RahulGandhi
Rahul Gandhi to contest Lok Sabha elections from Rae Bareli
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, May 3: The Congress finally sprung surprises with names of candidates for the Rae Bareli and the Amethi Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will contest Lok Sabha elections from the Rae Bareli seat.
The Congress on Friday morning also announced that Kishori Lal Sharma will contest from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat. The Congress announcement of the candidates came on the last day of the filing of the nomination papers in two VIPS seats of UP.
Putting all speculations to rest, the Congress has decided not to field the Congress national general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat. The Congress parliamentary party chief, Sonia Gandhi, represented, the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat from 2004 to 2024. Former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi represented the high-profile seat from 1967 to 1977.
Kishori Lal Sharma was the constituency representative of Sonia Gandhi. He will test his fate against Union Minister Smriti Irani, who is a candidate from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
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Irani had defeated Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Rahul Gandhi had contested from two Lok Sabha seats in 2019, from Amethi and Wayanad in Kerala.
The Congress bid to shift Rahul Gandhi to Rae Bareli is seen as an electoral safety measure of the party. The Congress appears to have sent out the message that the party will not risk Rahul Gandhi in the Amethi Lok Sabha seat.
The BJP had yesterday announced the UP minister Dinesh Pratap Singh as the party candidate from the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat. Singh had reduced the victory margin of Sania Gandhi in the 2019 elections by half.
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The pressure was building on the Congress to name the Gandhi siblings from the two VIP seats of UP. The Samajwadi Party had been insisting that the Congress should field the Gandhi siblings from the two parliamentary constituencies.
The Congress waited for the polling in the Wayanad Lok Sabha seat before announcing second parliamentary seat for Rahul Gandhi. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had alleged that the Congress would field Rahul Gandhi from a safe seat.
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