It is official. Congress leader and Wayanad Member of Parliament (MP) Rahul Gandhi will contest Lok Sabha Elections 2024 from Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli – the Nehru Gandhi family stronghold vacated by his mother, Sonia Gandhi, the party said on May 3.
Kishori Lal Sharma, Gandhi family loyalist, has been fielded from Amethi, the seat that Rahul Gandhi lost to Union Minister Smriti Irani in 2019.
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The Congress party released the names of candidates on May 3, the last date of filing of nominations for the two seats, thus ending the weeks-long speculation about party candidates for the two seats.
Raebareli and Amethi will go to polls in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha Elections on May 20.
Rahul is expected to file nomination papers for Raebareli seat by 12 noon. Rahul has is already contested the Lok Sabha elections from Kerala’s Wayanad seat that he won in 2019. Wayanad went to polls in second phase on April 26.
Kishori Lal Sharma will file papers at 10 am. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is expected to be present during the nominations. Sharma is a long time Gandhi family loyalist and has been constituency representative for Sonia Gandhi in Raibareli.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday announced UP minister Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate from Raebareli. Singh had lost to Sonia Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Also Read: BJP declares Dinesh Pratap Singh as Raebareli candidate for Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Who is he?
Even before the official announcement, the party has started making preparations for the nomination filing in both the seats, which have been traditionally held by members of the Nehru-Gandhi family.
The Congress had been winning Amethi and Raebareli seats since 1999 until 2019 Lok Sabha elections when Rahul Gandhi lost Amethi to Union Minister Smriti Irani. Rahul had been winning Amethi since 2004. The BJP has once again fielded Irani from Amethi.
Sonia Gandhi, who has been winning Raebareli seat since 2004, has decided to opt out of Lok Sabha race in 2024.
Also Read: In Gujarat, PM Modi’s 10 blistering attacks on ‘shahi parivar’ Congress, ‘shehzada’ Rahul Gandhi
The grand old party is contesting Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the Samajwadi Party. The Congress has got 17 of the 80 seats from UP while the remaining have been distributed among Samajwadi Party and other allies of the India bloc.
The last phase of the the seven-round Lok Sabha Elections will be held on June 1. The results will be declared on June 4.
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Published: 03 May 2024, 07:33 AM IST