Rahul Gandhi contested the Lok Sabha elections from Kerala’s Wayanad, where polling took place on Friday in the second phase of the polls. He had said earlier that he will follow “whatever order” he gets from his party…reports Asian Lite News
Amid speculation over whether Gandhi family members would contest the Lok Sabha polls from Uttar Pradesh and Raebareli, the Congress on Monday said its Central Election Committee (CEC) has authorised party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to decide the candidates for the two constituencies.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress has urged the top party leadership to field Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from the two seats.
Asked when the candidates for the two seats would be announced and whether Gandhi family members would be fielded from there, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said, “The president has been authorised to decide the candidates. Elections are not run in a hidden manner, they are run with all paraphernalia before everyone. You will get to know when the candidates are announced.”
“In our party, such decisions are not taken by two people in (behind) closed doors, the CEC has put forward its views and with its and the president’s nod, the candidates will be decided,” she said.
Rahul Gandhi contested the Lok Sabha elections from Kerala’s Wayanad, where polling took place on Friday in the second phase of the polls. He had said earlier that he will follow “whatever order” he gets from his party.
Speculation has been rife that Rahul Gandhi might contest the Lok Sabha polls from Amethi, a seat he represented for three straight terms earlier, and Priyanka Gandhi from Raebareli, a seat that was previously held by her mother Sonia Gandhi.
Both seats are considered bastions of the Gandhi family and the local units of the Congress have demanded that the two scions of the family contest from there. Mr Gandhi won the Amethi seat in three consecutive Lok Sabha elections from 2004. BJP leader Smriti Irani wrested the seat in 2019.
Gandhi, who contested from both Amethi and Wayanad in 2019, had won the elections from Wayanad. Polling in Amethi and Raebareli will be held on May 20, in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress has forged an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The counting of votes for all seven phases of the Lok Sabha polls will be taken up on June 4.
Smriti Irani files nomination
Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani filed her nomination papers for Amethi Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh on Monday and expressed confidence that people will bless the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the elections.
Smriti Irani, who is re-contesting from Amethi, was accompanied by Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav as she filed her nomination papers.
“For the service of Amethi, I have filed my nomination today. In the last 5 years in Amethi, 1,14,000 houses have been built under PM Awas Yojana, 1.5 lakh families received electricity connections and over 4 lakh farmers received PM-Kisan Samman Nidhi…I am hopeful that people will bless PM Modi, BJP,” she told reporters after filing her nomination papers.
Amethi will vote in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 20. Smriti Irani held a roadshow before filing her nomination papers. Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister was also present.
People showered flower petals as the roadshow made its way through Amethi roads. Earlier, Smriti Irani held puja at her residence. A day before filing her nomination papers, Irani rode a scooter to reach out to people in different localities of Amethi.