LS polls: Rahul Gandhi may contest from Amethi; announcement likely tonight

Amid the suspense over Congress nominees from Amethi and Rae Bareli, sources Thursday indicated that Rahul Gandhi is likely to contest from the seat he lost last time.

With Friday being the last date of filing of nominations, the party is expected to announce its candidates from the two prestigious constituencies tonight.

The sources said the party has started making preparations for the nomination filing in both the seats in Uttar Pradesh, which have been traditionally held by members of the Gandhi-Nehru family.

They added that Rahul Gandhi is the most likely choice of the party for Amethi, a seat he lost to Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi is also likely to attend the nomination filing Friday, the sources said.

They also said that the Congress has prepared an alternative plan in case Priyanka Gandhi Vadra does not contest from Rae Bareli, adding a grandson of former Congress leader and Indira Gandhi's aunt Sheila Kaul may be fielded from Rae Bareli.

Confidantes of the Gandhi family who held the fort at the ground level are already in Amethi and have prepared the nominations for the both Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, even though the party is yet to make any formal announcement.

Sources said Rahul Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge, who were both in Shimoga at a joint poll rally in Karnataka, held discussions over his nomination from Amethi.
 

The Uttar Pradesh leadership of the Congress has already called upon the Gandhi family to contest both the seats traditionally held by their family. The members of the central election committee has also urged the party leadership to field both Rahul and Priyanka, but the final call has to be taken by the top leadership and the first family of the Congress.

The Amethi seat has been represented by Rahul Gandhi from 2004 and he remained the member of Parliament from the constituency for three consecutive terms till 2019. He currently represents the Wayanad constituency in Kerala from where he has contested this time also.

Rahul Gandhi had said earlier he will follow "whatever order" he gets from his party.

The Amethi and Rae Bareli constituencies go to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections.

The Rae Bareli constituency was represented by 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 and Rajiv Gandhi.

The Congress has forged an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh as part of the INDIA bloc and is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The Lok Sabha polls are being held in seven phases starting April 19. The counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.