LUCKNOW: With the Congress Election Committee (CEC) meeting slated for Saturday, and the second phase of voting for 88 seats across India including Rahul Gandhi’s Wayanad seat having wrapped up, all eyes are now on the electoral landscape of Rae Bareli and Amethi, the two bastions of the Gandhi family, in Uttar Pradesh, where the party is yet to announce its candidates.
The meeting comes amid a fervent demand by Congressmen to field former party president Rahul Gandhi from Amethi and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Rae Bareli.
While the process of nominations for the key constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli commenced on Friday, and will continue till May 3, Congress insiders claim that the formal announcement of the names of the Gandhi scions is likely to be made after the CEC meeting.
Highly-placed sources in the Congress also claim that both Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi are likely to visit Ayodhya to take darshan of Ram Lalla before heading to their respective constituencies of Amethi and Rae Bareli.
The buzz around Rahul Gandhi’s candidature from Amethi also got weight from the fact that besides the renovation work at the Congress office, the guest house on the premises also got whitewashed and cleaned to host Rahul Gandhi, its most prominent guest. Moreover, sources also claim that after the announcement of his name, Rahul Gandhi may file his nomination from Amethi either on May 1 or 2. However, there is no official confirmation.
A senior Congress leader hinted at the possibility of back-to-back nominations of both Rahul and Priyanka during the narrow window between May 1 and May 3. However, there was also strong speculation over the possible candidature of Robert Vadra, Priyanka’s husband, from Amethi on a Congress ticket. Vadra had even gone vocal about it claiming that the people of Amethi wanted him to represent them in the Lok Sabha this time. Even some posters backing his candidacy had surfaced across Amethi two days back.
Rahul Gandhi made his political debut in Amethi in 2004 and won the seat thrice before he was defeated by the BJP's Smriti Irani in 2019. However, Gandhi managed to secure a Lok Sabha seat from Wayanad.
While in Amethi, the BJP’s sitting MP Smriti Irani is seeking a second term, in Rae Bareli, the ruling party is waiting for the Congress to announce its candidate before taking a decision.
Rae Bareli has been the Congress stronghold for decades. Sonia Gandhi, who used to contest from Amethi prior to 2004, shifted to Rae Bareli, her mother-in-law Indira Gandhi’s bastion, leaving Amethi for son Rahul in 2004. However, owing to her medical condition, Sonia Gandhi decided to withdraw from electoral politics in 2024 and followed the Rajya Sabha route to Parliament. She was elected to the upper house in February this year from Rajasthan. Notably, Rae Bareli was the only seat in Uttar Pradesh where the Congress managed to win in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
There has been constant speculation whether the Congress bastions in Uttar Pradesh will get a Gandhi contender in this year’s Lok Sabha elections. Both the constituencies will vote in the fifth phase on May 20.
