The newly appointed Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajai Rai on Friday opined that Rahul Gandhi should contest against Smriti Irani from his home turf Amethi and similarly, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra should file her nominations from Prime Minister’s Lok Sabha seat, Varanasi. In an exclusive interview with India News’ Rajat Rakesh Tandon, the Congress state chief talks about party’s future plans as well.
Q: Your idea about Priyanka Gandhi contesting from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Parliamentary constituency of Varanasi?
A: There is nothing wrong in it as the enthusiastic Congress workers want her to contest from this high-profile constituency. In a way, people have made up their mind to ensure her victory in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls in 2024.
Even in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it was speculated that Priyanka Gandhi may contest from Varanasi, challenging PM Modi, but Congress fielded Ajay Rai from the seat at the last moment. Even in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, Ajay Rai contested from Varanasi and lost to Narendra Modi.
Ajay Rai’s remarks came days after Priyanka Gandhi’s husband, Robert Vadra, dropped hints of the possibility of the Gandhi scion entering electoral politics.
“She (Priyanka should be in Lok Sabha for sure. She has all the qualifications for it. She would be very good in Parliament and she deserves to be there. I hope that the Congress party accepts and plans better for her,” Robert Vadra had said.
Q: And why do you want Rahul Gandhi to fight from Amethi?
A: There has been a huge demand of the Congress workers and leaders of Amethi for Rahul Gandhi to contest from this Parliamentary constituency against Smriti Irani in 2024. He further said that the pubic here are still searching for the incumbent MP Smriti Irani who had promised sugar @ Rs 14 per kg if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) comes to power at the Centre but this promise has turned out to be just a hollow one. Thus, the hollowness of the current Lok Sabha Member of Parliament has been exposed automatically. This decision sets the stage for a significant electoral battle in the upcoming Parliamentary polls.
Notably, Smriti Irani had defeated Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, once a Congress stronghold, by a margin of around 55,000 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Amethi Lok Sabha constituency was once a Gandhi family pocket-borough, from where Rahul Gandhi had been contesting elections since 2004, when his mother Sonia Gandhi vacated the seat for him.
Rahul Gandhi contested the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi and Wayanad Lok Sabha constituencies and subsequently became the MP from Wayanad after losing to Smriti Irani in Amethi.
Q: How can Congress stitch an alliance with the like-minded parties in a bid to form government at the Centre?
A: Congress is really upbeat about electoral chances in the 2024 polls, especially after its thumping victory in this year’s assembly polls in Karnataka. Keeping this in view, it has minted I.N.D.I.A. alliance.
