Congress' communication in charge Jairam Ramesh on Thursday said the party workers want Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to contest from Amethi and Rae Bareli, but it was their personal choice whether to fight from there. He said the CEC (Central Election Committee) has given the entire responsibility to the party president and there will be an official announcement by the evening today.
"We want Rahul Gandhi to contest from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi from Raebareli but they have to hold election campaigns across the country. Both of them are our star campaigners but the CEC, Congress organization, and Congress workers want Rahul Gandhi to contest from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi from Raebareli but it is their personal choice. They have to decide," he said while speaking to news agency ANI.
Amethi and Rae Bareli are traditional strongholds of the Gandhi-Nehru family as its members have represented the seats for several decades.
Earlier today, PTI reported that Rahul Gandhi is likely to contest from Rae Bareli, but a final call is yet to be taken by the first family of the Congress. According to the report which cited sources, Priyanka Gandhi is also keen to contest from Rae Bareli, but Rahul Gandhi is not favourable to the idea, considering the criticism of dynasty politics by Prime Minister Narendra Modi against the Congress leadership.
Rahul Gandhi does not want all three members of the Gandhi family should contest the Lok Sabha elections, sources told PTI. A final call on whether they would contest the two seats would likely be taken by the end of the day. The Amethi and Rae Bareli constituencies will go to polls in the fifth phase on May 20. The Rae Bareli constituency was represented by former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi from 2004 to 2024.
Prior to that Sonia Gandhi had represented the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency after she entered politics and contested for the first time in 1999. The seat has previously been represented by Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Sonia Gandhi.
(With inputs from PTI)