Renovation of Rahul’s Amethi house adds to candidature buzz

AMETHI: Amid a strong buzz around former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s candidature from Amethi in the Lok Sabha elections, a viral video showing the cleaning and renovation of his dwelling in Gauriganj here has invigorated the party cadre.

However, senior Congress leader Deepak Singh calls the renovation a routine exercise. While the Congress cadre are working silently on the ground, BJP workers along with the party candidate Smriti Irani are already engaged in an aggressive village-to-village campaign. Congress leaders claim that they want to keep it issue-based rather than falling for the BJP trap of making it a Smriti vs Rahul battle.

Party insiders are confident that Rahul and his sister Priyanka would be fielded from Amethi and Rae Bareli, respectively.

A formal announcement on the two seats is expected after the second phase of polls on April 26 when Wayanad in Kerala, from where Rahul is a contestant, would vote. Both Amethi and Rae Bareli will vote in the fifth phase on May 20.