Local Congress leaders in Amethi are skeptical with the nomination of Kishori Lal Sharma from the constituency. They doubt whether Sharma is a 'suitable' replacement for Rahul Gandhi. ''The people of Amethi are emotionally attached to the Gandhi family....the same can not be said about Sharma,'' said a local scribe in Amethi.
He added that Sharma's rival Smriti Irani could now find the going easier in the absence of a contestant from the Gandhi family.
Reacting to Sharma's candidature, Smriti Irani said that it proved that the Gandhi family had already 'conceded' defeat. ''The guests are welcome...we will provide good hospitality to the guests but it is an indication that the family (Gandhis) has already accepted defeat,'' she said in Amethi.
Considered to be their 'Chanakya', Kishori Lal Sharma, who had been looking after the two Congress bastions of Amethi and Raebareli for over the past three decades and representing former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and senior party leader Rahu Gandhi, was rewarded for his loyalty to the party's first family with the nomination from Amethi Lok Sabha seat.
It would for the first time in 25 years that no member of the Gandhi family is contesting from Amethi. Earlier Captain Satish Sharma, another Nehru-Gandhi loyalist, had contested from Amethi and won in 1991 and 1996. He, however, lost to Sanjay Singh in 1998.
Rahul, who lost to union minister Smriti Irani by around 55 thousand votes in the 2019 LS polls from Amethi, shifted to the neighbouring Raebareli LS seat, represented by his mother Sonia Gandhi, who was elected to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan recently.
A resident of Ludhiana in Punjab, Sharma, on Friday, filed his nomination papers from Amethi. He also held a roadshow with Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who exuded confidence that Congress would wrest the seat from the BJP this time.
''Kishori Lal Sharma is familiar with every nook and corner of Amethi.....every party worker knows him.....he is aware of the problems confronting this constituency,'' Priyanka said while addressing Congress workers during the roadshow.
Priyanka said that she would be camping in Amethi for the next few days and campaign for Sharma. ''We all will be campaigning for him and ensuring his victory in Amethi,'' she added.
She appealed to the electorate of Amethi to support Sharma, who, she said, had been 'serving' them for the past many years. ''Some people contest elections for money but we contest the polls for you (people),'' she said.
Sharma had accompanied former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi in Amethi in 1983 and since then, he had been associated with the constituency in one way or the other. He would regularly hold meetings with local leaders in Amethi and Raebareli and represented Rahul and Sonia in their respective constituencies.
''Sharma has been the main strategist for Rahulji and Soniaji.....he has been in-charge of their campaigns and also coordinated with the local party leaders and workers,'' said a Congress leader in Amethi.
The Congress leader said that Sharma had played a crucial role in Sonia's victory from Raebareli since 2004. ''He is a good strategist and knows Amethi very well,'' he remarked.
It remains to be seen if Sharma is able to do what Rahul could not do in 2019 LS polls.
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