The suspense over candidatures of Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi from the Amethi and Rae Bareli constituencies in Uttar Pradesh is likely to end today, April 2. Congress general secretary on Wednesday said the decision would be announced in the next 24-40 hours.
Amethi and Raebareli will go to the polls in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on May 20. The last day for filing nominations for the seats in the fifth phase is May 3. It is pertinent to note that Rahul Gandhi has planned to address a poll rally in Pune tomorrow.
Sources said that the duo, Rahul and Priyanka, are unwilling to contest Lok Sabha elections either from Amethi or Rae Bareli. However, efforts are still on to convince at least one of the Gandhi siblings to fight general elections from two seats in Uttar Pradesh.
Some media reports suggested that the absence of Nehru-Gandhi family members in the Uttar Pradesh elections as contestants would send a negative political message to people across the nation.
Within the Congress, there is also a belief that if Rahul Gandhi wins in both Wayanad and Amethi, he would have to give up one of the seats, which might annoy the electorate.
Amethi-Rae Bareli seats
The Congress has always won Rae Bareli and Amethi from 1999 to 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, Rahul Gandhi lost Amethi to Union Minister Smriti Irani in 2019. On the other hand, Sonia Gandhi has chosen not to run for Lok Sabha in 2024, despite her consistent victories from Rae Bareli.
However, Rahul Gandhi has already contested the Lok Sabha 2024 from Wayanad, a seat he had easily won in 2019. On April 26, Wayanad voters participated in the second round of voting.
The Congress is contesting Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party. The Congress has been allocated 17 of the 80 seats from UP while the remaining have been distributed among Samajwadi Party and other allies.
The last phase of the Lok Sabha Election will be held on June 1. The results will be declared on June 4.
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Published: 02 May 2024, 07:19 AM IST