Rahul Gandhi has hope from Rae Bareli, left Amethi
The suspense regarding Rae Bareli and Amethi seats ended last Friday morning. Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will contest elections from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh. From Amethi, Congress has nominated Kishori Lal Sharma, who was the representative of Rajiv, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi, as its candidate.
This is the first time in 25 years that no member of the Gandhi family is contesting elections from Amethi. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP’s Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi on this seat by a margin of about 55 thousand votes. Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination from Rae Bareli seat on Friday afternoon. At the time of his nomination, Rahul was accompanied by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi, Robert Vadra, Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, Congress Rajya Sabha member Pramod Tiwari, and leaders of several allies of the Indi alliance.
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Before joining Rahul’s nomination, Priyanka Gandhi came for some time to meet Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma, who had filed a nomination from Amethi. Rahul Gandhi reached Fursatganj Airport at around 10:30 in the morning, and from there, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi, and other leaders joined him in the nomination.
According to Congress, the decision is right
The Congress justified Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest from Rae Bareli’s seat and said that contesting elections from Rae Bareli was an emotional matter for him. Because it was led by his grandfather Firoz Gandhi, his grandmother Indira Gandhi, and later his mother Sonia Gandhi. Due to health reasons, Sonia did not agree to contest the Lok Sabha elections from Rae Bareli this time and was elected unopposed to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi targets Rahul
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took a dig at Rahul Gandhi over his decision to contest elections from the Rae Bareli seat. He said that, seeing the defeat from Wayanad, he has found a third destination.
Addressing public meetings, Prime Minister Modi said, Don’t be afraid! Don’t run! Without naming Rahul Gandhi, Prime Minister Modi said that he had already told her that Shehzade was going to lose in Wayanad. Due to his fear of defeat, as soon as the voting ends, he will start looking for the third seat.
They are so scared of Amethi that they have fled from there and are looking for shelter in Rae Bareli. Congress people go around saying don’t be afraid! Do not fear! I also tell them, Hey, don’t be afraid! Do not run! Attacking Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Modi said that I had talked about the defeat of Congress long ago in the Parliament House. When their senior leaders leave their seats and go to the Rajya Sabha, this proves that they have realized their defeat.
Caste equation of Rae Bareli seat
If we talk about the caste equation of the Rae Bareli seat, the largest number of Dalit voters are here. This figure is more than 32 percent. About 11 percent are Brahmins, about 9 percent are Rajputs, and 7 percent are Yadav caste voters. Here, Muslim and Logh voters are around 6 percent, and Kurmi voters are around 4 percent. The number of OBC voters is also around 23 percent.
Congress faces a tough challenge to save its fort
Rae Bareli seat has been the traditional seat of the Gandhi family. Rae Bareli did not leave Congress even during the huge Modi wave of 2014 and 2019. Now the responsibility of handling the family’s legacy rests on the shoulders of Rahul Gandhi. Along with this, Rahul Gandhi also has the challenge of saving this only Congress fort in UP.
Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat was formed in 1952. Feroze Gandhi had won elections here in 1952 and 1957. Congress’s Baijnath Kuril won the 1960 by-election. Then, in 1962, Baijnath Kuril of Congress won. Indira Gandhi became MP from here in 1968, 1971, and 1980. Rajarayan defeated Indira Gandhi in 1977. Arun Nehru won the by-elections in 1980 and 1984. Indira Gandhi’s maternal aunt, Sheela Kaul, became MP in 1989 and 1991. The BJP’s Ashok Singh won the elections in 1996 and 1998. Sonia Gandhi won the by-elections in 2004, 2006, 2009, 2014, and 2019.
