As suspense continues over the Congress candidates in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi and Raebareli constituencies, reports claim that party leader Rahul Gandhi is likely to contest from Amethi. With Friday being the last date for filing nominations, a decision is likely on Thursday night or tomorrow morning.
"I am hopeful that some formal announcements on Congress candidates from Amethi and Raebareli are likely to be made today,” AICC general secretary Jairam Ramesh said. He, however, added that the nomination deadline is 3 pm on May 3.
News agency PTI quoted Congress sources as saying that Rahul is the most likely choice of the party for Amethi, a seat he lost to Union Minister Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Rahul and party president Mallikarjun Kharge met on Thursday afternoon to discuss the candidates for the high-profile seats. The meeting was held in Karnataka’s Shimoga where both leaders had gone to attend an election rally.
According to reports, Kharge suggested both Rahul and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contest from the two seats, but left the final decisions to them.
Sources told PTI that Congress has prepared an alternative plan in case Priyanka does not contest from Raebareli, adding that a grandson of former Congress leader and Indira Gandhi's aunt Sheila Kaul may be fielded from Rae Bareli.
Both Amethi and Raebareli are traditional pocket boroughs of the Gandhi-Nehru family and its members represented the seats for several decades. However, Rahul lost Amethi to Smriti Irani in 2019.
Smriti Irani has already filed her nomination papers from Amethi.
As speculation mounted on the two seats, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had said on Wednesday that a decision on the matter would be announced in the next 24-30 hours.
He said that the party's central election committee (CEC) has empowered Kharge to finalise the candidates.
The state leadership in Uttar Pradesh has already urged the central election committee and the party leadership to field Rahul Gandhi from Amethi and Priyanka from Raebareli.
The Amethi seat has been represented by Rahul Gandhi from 2004 and he remained the member of Parliament from the constituency for three consecutive terms till 2019. He currently represents the Wayanad constituency in Kerala from where he has contested this time also.
The Raebareli constituency was represented by Sonia Gandhi from 2004 to 2024. Prior to that, Sonia Gandhi had represented the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency after she entered politics and contested for the first time in 1999. The seat has previously been represented by Sanjay Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.
Both constituencies go to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections.
