Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is unlikely to contest the Lok Sabha elections 2024. Priyanka Gandhi would only campaign for the Congress party in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, India Today reported citing sources. Any final decision on Congress MP Rahul Gandhi contesting from Amethi or Rae Bareli after the Wayanad contest will be taken in 24 hours, sources added.
While the BJP has announced Smriti Irani as its candidate for Amethi, the grand old party has said that it will soon make an announcement regarding the same. Both the Congress and the BJP, however, have not announced their candidates from Rae Bareli.
Meanwhile, the Congress party's Central Election Committee (CEC) has authorized its chief Mallikarjun Kharge to decide on the party's candidates for the Lok Sabha constituencies of Uttar Pradesh and Raebareli. This announcement comes amid speculation about whether members of the Gandhi family will contest the elections from these constituencies.
Commenting on the Congress' predicament vis-a-vis Amethi and Rae Bareli, Home Minister Amit Shah said the grand old party is in such dire straits in Uttar Pradesh that they have left their traditional seats and ran away. Shah was quoted as saying by news agency ANI: "I don't know whether they will contest elections or not but the amount of confusion shows that they lack self-confidence. The situation in Uttar Pradesh is that they have left their traditional seats and ran away..."
The Uttar Pradesh Congress has urged the party leadership to field Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. Rahul Gandhi had previously contested the Lok Sabha elections from Kerala's Wayanad. There is speculation that he might contest from Amethi, a seat he previously represented for three straight terms, and Priyanka Gandhi from Raebareli, a seat previously held by her mother Sonia Gandhi.
Both seats are considered strongholds of the Gandhi family. Rahul Gandhi won from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat in 2004, 2009 and 2014 general elections but was defeated by BJP's Smriti Irani in 2019.
In 2019, Rahul Gandhi was also contesting from Kerala's Wayanad as his safe seat. The Gandhi scion won the seat with more than 7 lakh votes and commanded a vote share of 64.7 per cent. Raebareli, on the other hand, has elected former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi as its MP since 2004.
Earlier in April this year, Sonia Gandhi vacated the seat as she moved to the Rajya Sabha. The polling in Amethi and Raebareli will be held on May 20, during the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections. The Congress party has formed an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The results will be announced on June 4.