Amidst reports suggesting Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s potential candidacy from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav expressed that all eyes will now be on Uttar Pradesh.
Responding to inquiries about Rahul Gandhi’s possible entry into the fray in Amethi during his nomination filing in Kannauj, Akhilesh Yadav remarked, “Everyone will come now, the gathering will be in Uttar Pradesh only.”
Accompanied by Samajwadi Party Rajya Sabha MP Ramgopal Yadav, Akhilesh Yadav filed his nomination for the Lok Sabha polls in Kannauj. Akhilesh has a history with Kannauj, having been elected to the 13th Lok Sabha from the constituency in 2000, and subsequently re-elected twice in 2004 and 2009. After serving as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh in 2012, he returned to the Lok Sabha in 2019 as an MP from Azamgarh. However, in 2022, he resigned from the Lok Sabha to participate in the UP Assembly.
Voting for the Kannauj seat is scheduled for the fourth phase of the Lok Sabha election on May 13. Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party has nominated Tej Pratap Yadav, Akhilesh’s nephew and son-in-law of RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, as its candidate.
In a seat-sharing arrangement between the Samajwadi Party and Congress in Uttar Pradesh, Congress will contest 17 seats while the Samajwadi Party will contest the remaining 63 seats.
Speculations are rife that Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi are likely to contest from Rae Bareli and Amethi respectively. However, the final decision is expected after April 26, with nominations potentially being filed next week. In the second phase, Wayanad, from where Rahul Gandhi is contesting, will go to the polls.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi in Amethi. Irani has been fielded again by the Bharatiya Janata Party from the same seat.
Apart from its traditional strongholds of Rae Bareli and Amethi, Congress is also contesting from Varanasi, Ghaziabad, and Kanpur.
Earlier, posters featuring Robert Vadra, husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, appeared outside the party’s office in the Gauriganj area of Amethi on Wednesday, sparking speculations about a possible ticket for Vadra. However, the Congress seems determined to contest every seat it has decided upon, opting to field the Gandhi siblings. Amethi and Rae Bareli constituencies are scheduled to vote in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 20.