The suspense on whether Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would contest the Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh is expected to end today, just one day before the nomination deadline.
Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh announced on Wednesday that a decision on the matter would be announced within the next 24-30 hours.
The two seats are considered traditional strongholds of the Gandhi-Nehru family, with family members having represented them for several decades.
Speculation has been rife over whether Rahul Gandhi, who suffered an unexpected defeat in Amethi to BJP's Smriti Irani in 2019, will contest from there again, possibly alongside his current constituency, Kerala's Wayanad.
Media reports suggest that both Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are reluctant to contest, and last-minute efforts underway to convince the two – or at least one of them – to enter the fray.
A large section of the leadership believes that the Gandhis not contesting from the Hindi heartland would send a bad political message, making it likely that one of them will contest.
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But the concern is that the BJP's criticism of dynastic politics could intensify if both Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi contest elections. Another dilemma for Rahul is the possibility of winning both Amethi and Wayanad, which would force him to choose between the two. Amethi sent him to Parliament for the first time in 2004 and Wayand ensured that he remains an MP in 2019.
Amethi and Rae Bareli will go to the polls in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections 2024 on May 20. The last day for filing nominations for the seats in the fifth phase is May 3.
Amethi And Rae Bareli Seats: A Gandhi Family Stronghold
The Congress has consistently won the Rae Bareli and Amethi seats in the Lok Sabha Elections from 1999 to 2019. The Gandhi family has a long association with both Amethi and Rae Bareli.
Feroze Gandhi, Indira’s husband, represented Rae Bareli in 1952 and 1957. Indira herself made her Lok Sabha debut from Rae Bareli in 1967.
The family’s connection with Amethi began in 1980 when Sanjay Gandhi, Indira’s son, entered Parliament from the seat.
After his death, Rajiv Gandhi, Indira’s eldest son, made his electoral debut from Amethi in 1981 and held onto the seat till his death in 1991. In 1991, Sonia Gandhi made her electoral debut from Amethi. In 2004, she shifted to Rae Bareli, making way for her son Rahul to contest from Amethi.
Rahul Gandhi lost Amethi to Union Minister Smriti Irani in 2019. On the other hand, Sonia Gandhi has chosen not to run for Lok Sabha in 2024, despite her consistent victories from Rae Bareli.
The Congress is contesting Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party. The Congress has been allocated 17 of the 80 seats from UP. Samajwadi Party, the leading partner of the INDIA bloc, and other allies will contest the other seats.
The last phase of the Lok Sabha Election will be held on June 1. The counting will take place on June 4.
