After months of speculation, Congress finally fields Rahul Gandhi from family bastion Raebareli

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will contest from the party bastion Raebareli seat and longtime Gandhi family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma has been fielded from Amethi.

The Congress made the announcement on Friday, confirming the candidatures of Rahul Gandhi and Kishori Lal Sharma.

Earlier there were reports that Rahul might contest from Amethi, and his sister Priyanka from Raebarely, a seat that was vacated by their mother Sonia Gandhi.

The party has yet to make a formal announcement. Friday is the last date for filing a nomination. Rahul was up in the fray in Kerala's Wayanad during the second phase of Lok Sabha polls.

On Thursday, posters of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi were put up in Amethi and Raebareli, respectively, ahead of the formal announcement.

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. 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.

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