'Daro mat': PM hits out at Rahul Gandhi over contesting from Rae Bareily

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Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday submitted his nomination papers from the Rae Bareli seat on the last day of filing of papers, drawing barbs from BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi who mocked him for “running away” from the battle.

Congress loyalist KL Sharma will now contest from Amethi.

It will be the first time in 25 years that a Nehru-Gandhi family member will not contest from Amethi. Rahul had lost this seat in the 2019 elections to Smriti Irani.

In 1999, Sonia Gandhi debuted in electoral politics by contesting from Amethi and Bellary, opting to retain Amethi. In 2004, she shifted to Rae Bareli with Rahul Gandhi winning from Amethi in 2004, 2009 and 2014. He lost to Irani by nearly six per cent votes from Amethi, but entered the Lok Sabha from Kerala’s Wayanad.

Rahul’s choice gave the ruling BJP a handle to attack him.

At public meetings in West Bengal, PM Modi said he stood vindicated since he had predicted that the Congress leader would look for a second seat fearing defeat from Wayanad.

The PM said no exit polls or opinion polls were needed since the outcome of the 2024 polls was evident with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi entering the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan and Rahul Gandhi running away from contesting from Amethi.

Modi mocked Rahul by referring to the latter’s slogan ‘daro mat’ (don't be afraid).

In his rallies in Bardhaman and Krishnanagar, PM Modi claimed that the Congress’ tally will hit an all-time low this time, and that the party would struggle to cross 50 seats.

Maharashtra Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis described Rahul as a “political tourist” while Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Congress wanted Rahul to contest from Amethi for which he could not gather the courage.

Rahul filed his nomination papers in Rae Bareli in the afternoon, in the presence of his mother, Sonia Gandhi, sister Priyanka, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, party leaders KC Venugopal and Ashok Gehlot.

Priyanka also accompanied KL Sharma for his nomination filing and participated in a road show for him in Amethi. She said she would camp in the two seats from May 6 until the elections get over on May 20.

While Amethi, after Rahul's loss in 2019, could prove to be a tougher seat to win, Rae Bareli, where Sonia’s win margin in 2019 was 17 per cent, could turn out to be an easier battle. 

Rahul, if he were to win both Wayanad and Rae Bareli, could afford to quit the former as the Congress was confident of winning the Kerala seat.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh sought to explain the party’s decision of fielding Rahul from Rae Bareli and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra keeping herself out of a direct electoral battle to campaign for the party across the country.

“Many people have many opinions on the news of Rahul Gandhi contesting from Rae Bareli. Remember, he is an experienced player of politics and chess. The party leadership takes its decisions after much discussion, and as part of a larger strategy,” Ramesh said.

The Congress leader said Rahul’s decision to contest from Rae Bareli has confused the BJP’s supporters and sycophants.

Ramesh said Rae Bareli was a seat that not only Sonia Gandhi but also Indira Gandhi represented, and is not merely an inheritance but also a “responsibility and a duty”. He said while Rahul had the courage to contest from the north and south, the PM lacked it.

“Why has the PM been unable to muster the courage to contest an election from a single seat below the Vindhyas?” Ramesh asked.

He said Priyanka had single-handedly silenced “Narendra Modi’s lies”, which is why it was important she should not be limited to one constituency.

Union minister Smriti Irani, who defeated Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in 2019, said his absence from the electoral fray in the seat indicates that the Congress has accepted defeat even before polling.

 

It’s in the family LS seats contested by members of Nehru-Gandhi family from 1951-52 to 2019

 

Jawaharlal Nehru

Congress

1951-52, 1957, 1962
Phulpur

++

Indira Gandhi

Congress

1967, 1971, 1977 (lost) 

Rae Bareli
 

1978 — Chikmagalur (Karnataka)

1980 — Rae Bareli, Medak (Telangana)

++

Feroze Gandhi

Congress

1951-52, 1957
Rae Bareli

++

Rajiv Gandhi

Congress

1981 (bypoll), 1984, 1989, 1991 

Amethi 

++

Sonia Gandhi

Congress

1999

Bellary, Amethi
 

2004, 2009, 

2014, 2019
Rae Bareli

++

Sheila Kaul

Congress

1971, 1977 (lost), 1980, 1984 

Lucknow
 

1989, 1991 
Rae Bareli

++

Arun Nehru

Congress

1980 (bypoll), 1984 

Rae Bareli
 

Janata Dal

1989 — Bilhaur 

++

Rahul Gandhi

Congress

2004, 2009, 2014 

Amethi
 

2019 — Amethi (lost), Wayanad

2024 — Rae Bareli, Wayanad (contesting)

++

Sanjay Gandhi

Congress

1977 (lost), 1980
Amethi

++

Maneka Gandhi

Independent

1984 — Amethi (lost to Rajiv Gandhi)
 

Janata Dal

1989 — Pilibhit

Janata Party

1991 — Pilibhit (lost)

Janata Dal

1996 — Pilibhit 
 

Independent

1998, 1999 — Pilibhit 
 

BJP

2004, 2014 — Pilibhit 

2009 — Aonla 

2024 - Sultanpur (contesting) 

++

Varun Gandhi

BJP

2009, 2019 — Pilibhit

2014 — Sultanpur

++

Vijayalakshmi Pandit

Congress

1964 (bypoll), 1967  

Phulpur

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