Raebareli: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination from Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli Lok Sabha constituency on Friday, accompanied by top party leaders in a display of unity and resolve.
Rahul Gandhi, flanked by Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, and her husband, businessman Robert Vadra, submitted his nomination papers for the electoral contest in Raebareli.
The announcement of Rahul Gandhi’s candidacy from Raebareli came earlier in the day, following the seat’s vacancy by his mother, Sonia Gandhi, upon her transition to the Rajya Sabha. In Raebareli, Rahul Gandhi faces three-time MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh, who defected from the Congress party.
Responding to Rahul Gandhi’s candidacy, Union Minister Smriti Irani remarked that the Congress party had conceded defeat in Raebareli, alleging the nomination of a “proxy candidate,” Kishori Lal Sharma, in Amethi.
Addressing reporters in Amethi, Irani stated, “The fact that the Gandhis are not fighting in Amethi shows that even before a vote has been cast, they are losing from Amethi.”
Irani portrayed Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest from Raebareli as a victory for the people of Amethi, highlighting the developmental strides made under the Modi government’s tenure.
“The Modi government will return, and we will continue to work for the people here, with development as our focal point,” Irani affirmed.
She recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s remarks about Rahul Gandhi seeking a new seat post-elections in Kerala, accusing the Congress leadership of retreat from electoral battlegrounds.
In Amethi, Congress has fielded Kishori Lal Sharma, a longstanding loyalist of the Gandhi family, to contest the upcoming polls.
Both Raebareli and Amethi will go to the polls in the fifth phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections on May 7, coinciding with polling for 25 Lok Sabha seats in Gujarat.
The electoral landscape in Uttar Pradesh remains dynamic, with the forthcoming polls poised to shape the political trajectory of the region.
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