The Congress on Friday finally ended the suspense over its candidates for the Rae Bareli and and Amethi constituency seats of Uttar Pradesh which will go to polls on 20 May.
In the early morning decision, the grand old party decided to field Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from Rae Bareli - a seat represented by his mother Sonia Gandhi for four terms until she was elected to Rajya Sabha this year - and his loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat.
Congress releases another list of candidates for the upcoming #LokSabhaElections2024
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2024
Rahul Gandhi to contest from Raebareli and Kishori Lal Sharma from Amethi. pic.twitter.com/2w4QQcn9ok
The Congress, which is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh as part of the seat-sharing deal with the SP, had announced candidates for all the seats barring Amethi and Rae Bareli.
Rahul Gandhi, who is also seeking re-election from Kerala’s Wayanad, will face BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh in Raebareli. Singh had lost to Sonia Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Sharma was the key man who looked after the two key constituencies in the absence of the Gandhis.
Rahul and Sharma will file their nomination papers on Friday, the last date for the filing of nominations.
According to an NDTV report, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra could not be convinced to contest from Raebareli - which she had nursed for over a decade on her mother’s behalf.
UP Congress president Ajay Rai said that it was their demand that Rahul Gandhi contests the Lok Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh.
#WATCH | Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh: On KL Sharma's candidature from Amethi Lok Sabha seat, UP Congress President Ajay Rai says, "It was our demand for a long time that Rahul Gandhi contests from Uttar Pradesh. From Amethi and Raibareli, both are family members (as contestants). It… pic.twitter.com/8TIqaKGrNM
— ANI (@ANI) May 3, 2024
“It was our demand for a long time that Rahul Gandhi contests from Uttar Pradesh. From Amethi and Raibareli, both are family members (as contestants). It is Rahul Gandhi from Raebareli and KL Sharma from Amethi. They have been among the people and served them…,” Rai said.
He said Rahul Gandhi’s candidature is going to affect the entire election results and we are confident that INDI alliance will form the government.
“Rahul is a fighter, he cannot back off…,” added Rai.
Reacting to the development, the BJP said that with Rahul Gandhi running away from Amethi is evident that the Congress realises that he stands no chance in front of BJP candidate Smriti Irani.
All this drama & build up for what?
— Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) May 3, 2024
With Rahul Gandhi running away and surrendering out of Amethi & fielding somebody like KL Sharma, it is evident that Congress has given up on Amethi.
They too realise that Rahul stands no chance in front of Smriti Irani
So they sent him to…
“All this drama & build up for what? With Rahul Gandhi running away and surrendering out of Amethi & fielding somebody like KL Sharma, it is evident that Congress has given up on Amethi. They too realise that Rahul stands no chance in front of Smriti Irani,” BJP leader Shehzad Poonawalla wrote on X.
He said so they sent him to Rae Bareli, which they consider to be a safer seat.
“So they sent him to what they consider a safer Rae Bareli! But isn’t that a complete fraud on people of Wayanad? Not that he will win in Rae Bareli but it just shows “use and throw” mindset of Congress. Rae Bareli too will reject this behaviour & opt for an MP who stays with them & doesn’t desert them,” he added.
In Amethi, Rahul Gandhi won the consecutive Lok Sabha elections of 2004, 2009, and 2014. However, the tables turned in 2019 when the traditionally Congress-leaning constituency opted for BJP’s Smriti Irani as its MP.
In contrast, Rae Bareli has remained steadfast in its allegiance to the Congress since 1999. Initially claimed by Congress’ Satish Sharma in 1999, the constituency has consistently elected former Congress leader Sonia Gandhi as its representative from 2004 until 2019.
With inputs from agencies
 "FirstUp: Modi's rallies in Jharkhand, China's Chang'e-6 lunar probe launch... Big headlines today")
 "Who is Dinesh Pratap Singh, BJP's candidate from Rae Bareli, the Gandhi bastion?")
 "We got votes in name of Ram when temple was not built ... we in fact ended the reason to ask for votes: Amit Shah")
 "What is 'vote jihad' which PM Modi brought up at Gujarat rally?")