With just one day left for filing nominations for the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls, the Congress maintained the suspense on the party’s candidate in Amethi and Rae Bareli.
However, sources said Rahul Gandhi is all set to contest from Amethi. Party’s old guard and Sonia Gandhi loyalist KL Sharma has got the paperwork done for Rahul Gandhi, they added. A source indicated that Rahul, Sonia and Priyanka will be traveling to Amethi for filing the nomimation.
A decision on Rae Bareli is still pending because Priyanka has said no to to making her debut into the electoral politics.
The source said that the decision of the Gandhi family has been conveyed to party leadership and it is likely that the list will be announced formally on Friday morning.
The two seats of Amerhi and Rae Bareli holds important significance for Gandhi family as both the seats have been long associated with the Nehru-Gandhi family as Feroze Gandhi, former Prime Ministers Indira and Rajiv Gandhi, Indira’s son and Congress leader Sanjay Gandhi, former party presidents Sonia and Rahul and Congress stalwart Arun Nehru have all got elected from here.
The Congress remained undecided and maintained the buzz around Amethi seat that former party chief Rahul Gandhi would be returning to wrest it back from BJP’s Smriti Irani, who had defeated him in 2019 Lok Sabha elections by a margin of over 50,000 votes.
Congress General Secretary Communication incharge Jairam Ramesh earlier in the day said that the CEC has given the entire responsibility to the party president and he believes there will be an official announcement by the evening.
“We want Rahul Gandhi to contest from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi from Rae Bareli but they have to hold election campaigns across the country. Both of them are our star campaigners but the CEC, Congress organization, and Congress workers want Rahul Gandhi to contest from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi from Raebareli but it is their personal choice. They have to decide,” Ramesh said.
Amethi seat had been a stronghold of Rahul Gandhi, who represented it since 2004, and he remained an MP from the constituency for three consecutive terms till 2019 while Rae Bareli constituency was represented by Sonia Gandhi from 2004 to 2024.
Sonia Gandhi had represented the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency after she entered politics and contested for the first time in 1999.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Thursday ended suspense over its Rae Bareli candidate by fielding state Minister Dinesh Pratap Singh.
Agencies add:
Sources said that the Congress has prepared an alternative plan in case Priyanka Gandhi Vadra does not contest from Rae Bareli, adding a grandson of former Congress leader and Indira Gandhi’s aunt Sheila Kaul may be fielded from Rae Bareli.
Sources said Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge, who were both in Shimoga at a joint poll rally in Karnataka, held discussions over his nomination from Amethi.
Posters and banners of Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi party leader Akhilesh Yadav were also brought late evening in the Congress office in Gauriganj in Amethi ahead of Friday’s nomination filing.
BJP candidate from Amethi Smriti Irani has already filed her nomination papers.
The Uttar Pradesh leadership of the Congress has already called upon the Gandhi family to contest both the seats traditionally held by their family. The members of the central election committee has also urged the party leadership to field both Rahul and Priyanka, but the final call has to be taken by the top leadership and the first family of the Congress.
Rahul Gandhi had said earlier he will follow “whatever order” he gets from his party.
The Amethi and Rae Bareli constituencies go to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections.
The Rae Bareli constituency was represented by Sonia Gandhi from 2004 to 2024. Prior to that, Sonia Gandhi had represented the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency after she entered politics and contested for the first time in 1999.