Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi
Credit: PTI Photo
New Delhi: With just hours left for filing of nominations to end, Congress is yet to announce its candidates for Gandhi family bastions but sources said Rahul Gandhi is likely to fight from Rae Bareli while a non-Gandhi may fight from Amethi.
In indications what could be read as Priyanka not contesting elections from Uttar Pradesh, her aides shared her programme for Friday in which it was said that she will be holding a roadshow in UP’s Fatehpur Sikri at 3 PM on Saturday.
If she was filing nominations, she would not be able to reach Fatehpur Sikri in the afternoon even if accompanies the candidate for either Amethi or Rae Bareli. Priyanka is said to have refused to come under pressure to fight from Rae Bareli vacated by their mother Sonia Gandhi.
The last date for filing of nominations for both the seats is Friday. Amethi and Rae Bareli go to polling on May 20 in the fifth phase of elections.
The last couple of days have witnessed intense speculation about the nominees for both the seats – from Rahul and Priyanka not fighting polls, only one of them fighting the polls and they swapping the seats.
There has been an unusual delay in announcing the names for both the seats with some Congress sources saying that an announcement would come only after Kerala elections on April 26 where Rahul was fighting from Wayanad, a seat which he represents since 2019.
There was intense speculation that Rahul may not contest a second seat but not contesting from Amethi could have an adverse impact as the opponent BJP using it as a plank to claim that a scared Gandhis were abandoning north India fearing defeat. Irani had already claimed that Rahul had run away to Wayanad.
Both the seats had been with Congress for years -- Amethi was represented by Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi since 1980 except for six years, including the last five when Irani was the MP. Congress expects that Rahul could regain the constituency this time owing to the perceived anti-incumbency against sitting MP Irani and the support from Samajwadi Party.
Rae Bareli was represented by Feroz Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi. Sonia has been winning Rae Bareli since 2004 and even managed to retain her seat in 2019 amidst a Modi wave with the seat being the lone one the Congress won from Uttar Pradesh last time.