In a strategic move ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate for the Raebareli constituency. Raebareli, a stronghold of the Congress party, is set to go to polls in the fifth phase on May 20.
Dinesh Pratap Singh, currently serving as a minister in the Yogi Adityanath cabinet in Uttar Pradesh, has been chosen by the BJP to contest from Raebareli for the second time, consecutively.
In the 2019 elections, Singh contested against Sonia Gandhi from Raebareli. However, he lost to the Congress bastion by a margin of nearly 1.6 lakh votes, although he received a total of 38 percent votes, the highest number of votes among all BJP candidates in the history of Raebareli.
He has also been elected as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council thrice in 2010, 2016, and 2022.
The filing of nominations for the Raebareli constituency will conclude on May 3, with the Congress party yet to announce its candidate for the prestigious seat.
Raebareli holds significant political importance as it has been a traditional stronghold of the Congress party since 1960, with stalwarts like Feroze Gandhi and Indira Gandhi having represented the constituency in the past.