New Delhi: Ending days of speculation, the Congress leadership on Friday announced that Rahul Gandhi will contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Raebareli seat vacated by his mother Sonia Gandhi.
Gandhi family loyalist KL Sharma will be fielded from Amethi. Both the candidates will will their nomination today. Friday is the last date of filing of nominations for the seats that will go to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections.
When asked, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Jairam Ramesh only said that the deadline for filing nomination papers is 3 pm on May 3. Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi, who traditionally held the Raebareli constituency has become a member of the Rajya Sabha. She is likely to attend Rahul Gandhi's nomination process.
The BJP on Thursday announced Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate from Raebareli. He had lost to Sonia Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The sources said Gandhi family loyalist Kishori Lal is likely to contest from Amethi, which Rahul Gandhi lost to BJP's Smriti Irani in 2019.
The sources said Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge, who were both in Karnataka's Shimoga for a poll rally, held discussions over his nomination. Posters and banners of Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav were also brought late evening to the Congress office in Gauriganj in Amethi ahead of Friday's nomination filing.
BJP leader Irani has already filed her nomination papers for the Amethi seat. The Amethi seat has been represented by Rahul Gandhi from 2004 and he remained the member of Parliament from there for three consecutive terms till 2019. He currently represents Kerala's Wayanad constituency from where he has contested this time also.
Rahul Gandhi had said earlier he will follow "whatever order" he gets from his party. The Raebareli constituency was represented by Sonia Gandhi from 2004 to 2024 and is considered as the traditional pocket borough of the Gandhi-Nehru family.
Prior to this, 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. The Congress has forged an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh as part of the INDIA bloc and is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state. Polling for the general elections began on April 19. The counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.
Party to decide which seat to retain at appropriate time: KC Venugopal
Thiruvananthapuram: After Rahul Gandhi decided to contest the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh besides seeking re-election from Wayanad in Kerala, Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal on Friday said the party will decide at the appropriate time which seat to retain. Wayanad went to polls on April 26 in the second phase of Lok Sabha polls.
“The party requested Rahul to contest from Raebareli and he agreed. For us, Raebareli, Amethi, and Wayanad seats are all dear. Raebareli is the seat which was held by Indira Gandhi and till recently it was held by Sonia Gandhi. At the appropriate time, the party will decide which seat he will retain. The decision when taken will not affect anyone,” said Venugopal.
(With PTI, IANS inputs.)
