Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is set to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha election from the Rae Bareli constituency, previously held by his mother, Sonia Gandhi. This decision comes after Rahul Gandhi’s stint in the Wayanad constituency and his prior defeat in Amethi. Commenting on the development, Union Minister Giriraj Singh on Friday said "Just like Bahadur Shah Zafar was the last emperor of the Mughal Sultanate, Raebareli is the same for the Gandhi family".
"The Gandhi family never goes back to the seat from where it loses. Rahul Gandhi lost Amethi and he left it. This time if he loses Raebareli too, he will leave that too. Just like Bahadur Shah Zafar was the last emperor of the Mughal Sultanate, Raebareli is the same for the Gandhi family," Union Minister Giriraj Singh told reporters.
BJP National Secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that Rahul Gandhi had earlier accepted his defeat from Amethi, and now he is running away from Wayanad.
“Rahul Gandhi is losing from Wayanad and this is why is going to to contest from Raebareli. Earlier, he accepted defeat from Amethi, now he is running away from Wayanad. The situation is such that no one from Congress wants to contest from Amethi, which was Congress' traditional seat,” Sirsa was quoted as saying by ANI.
“Rahul Gandhi will also have to leave Raebareli, and people will give him a befitting reply, he will be defeated in Raebareli too,” he added.
BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, "Rahulji, you said 'Daro Mat' and now you are saying 'Amethi se Lado mat'. The Congress has confirmed that they have surrendered and have run away from Amethi."
"After defrauding Amethi for so many years, they went to Wayanad. They are defrauding Wayanad also. They are doing 'use and throw' with Wayanad... They have chosen, what they feel, is a safer seat in Raebareli. 80/80 will be the scorecard for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh and 400+ for NDA across the country," Poonawalla said.
"KL Sharma's first priceless reaction tells everything. He feels like he is made a scapegoat. I feel bad for Robert Vadra. He tried hard but did not get a chance," he added.
Alongside Rahul Gandhi’s candidacy, Congress had nominated Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, to contest from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat, as confirmed by the party in a statement released on Friday.
Sharma, entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing both constituencies in the absence of the Gandhis, has been selected to contest against BJP’s Smriti Irani in Amethi.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, current chief Mallikarjun Kharge, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are expected to be present in Raebareli during the nomination filing process, as per the party’s announcement.
Rahul Gandhi and Sharma are scheduled to file their nomination papers on Friday, the last day for the submission of nominations for the respective seats.
Both Rae Bareli and Amethi will undergo voting on May 20 during the fifth phase of the general election. The announcement of candidates for the two constituencies comes after days of internal discussions within the party. These seats have historically been held by members of the Gandhi-Nehru family.
On Thursday, the BJP announced Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate from Rae Bareli, who had previously contested against Sonia Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.