However, on Thursday the party did confirm that one member of the Gandhi family will contest from either of the two seats – and that member will not be Robert Vadra, husband of Priyanka Gandhi, who recently made headlines with his remarks that people of Amethi expect him to represent their constituency.
Veteran Congress leader and CWC member A K Antony on Thursday said there will be one person from the Gandhi family who will contest either from Raebareli or Amethi in Uttar Pradesh, news agency IANS reported quoting a local TV channel.
When probed further if that member would be Robert Vadra, Antony shot back and said, “it would be either Rahul or Priyanka.”
Amethi and Raebareli have been traditional Congress strongholds in Uttar Pradesh. However, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections Rahul Gandhi was defeated in his bastion of Amethi by BJP’s Smriti Irani. Rahul, who had also contested and won from Wayanad in Kerala in 2019, has already filed his nomination papers from there for the upcoming elections.
But the UP BJP leaders want him to contest from Amethi also. The Congress and Rahul have been silent on these demands. Amethi has seen two face-offs between the two leaders – with Rahul winning in 2014 and Smriti Irani in 2019. It will be interesting to see if the Congress decides for the third high-profile contest.
Raebareli, on the other hand, was the only Lok Sabha seat which the Congress won in Uttar Pradesh in 2019 elections. The seat, which has been represented by Sonia Gandhi for a long time, will see a new Congress candidate this time around as Sonia has opted out of electoral politics and has become a member of Rajya Sabha. There are reports that Priyanka Gandhi will replace her mother in Rae Bareli. In an emotional note to the voters of Rae Bareli, Sonia had hinted at the possibility of a family member contesting from the seat. However, neither Congress nor Priyanka Gandhi has spoken on this.
The Congress, which is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh under INDIA’s seat-sharing deal, has announced candidates for all the seats except Amethi and Raebareli. It remains to be seen which of the two seats will see a Gandhi family member in electoral fray.
(With inputs from agencies)
