Amethi contest: will Rahul move to Raebareli for Priyanka Gandhi Vs Smriti Irani fight?

Amethi, one of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies of Uttar Pradesh, was a Congress stronghold. However, Rahul Gandhi faced a major defeat in 2019 that even led him to write a four-page letter in which he explained his decision to resign as party president.

He took responsibility for the loss of the 2019 polls but also said others will have to be made accountable for the failure of 2019. In his letter, he mentioned, "Rebuilding the party requires hard decisions and numerous people will have to be made accountable for the failure of 2019. It would be unjust to hold others accountable but ignore my own responsibility as president of the party."

Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi himself have been elected from this seat. Rahul was elected to Lok Sabha from this seat from 2004 to 2014. However, in 2019, he lost the polls to BJP's Smriti Irani by over 55,000 votes.

Now, the 2024 Lok Sabha polls are here but the Congress has not yet announced its candidate from Amethi. This seat will go to the polls in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 20. The last day for filing nominations for the seats in the third phase is May 3.

There is a suspense looming over the candidate of Congress and the main question that has been in people's minds is whether Rahul Gandhi will contest from this seat.

As the Congress is maintaining the suspense until the eleventh hour, let's understand the challenges that Rahul Gandhi is set to face, if he contests from this seat.

According to reports, he has been absent from Amethi and visited this seat quite less, leaving the field clear for Smriti Irani.

On April 29, the Congress party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) reportedly authorised party chief Mallikarjun Kharge to decide the candidates for the two constituencies. The Uttar Pradesh Congress unit has urged the top party leadership to field Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from the two seats. But reports suggest, Gandhi's family, is not keen.

These are not the only speculations as there are reports that suggest that Rahul Gandhi can contest from Raebareli and leave Amethi for Priyanka Gandhi so that there is a woman pitted against a woman from this seat.

So far, there has been no confirmation from Congress whether Rahul will contest from his former constituency which elected him to the Lok Sabha thrice, in 2004, 2009, and 2014.

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