Lok Sabha election 2024: Congress nominees for Amethi and Rae Bareli seats remain unconfirmed

Although the filing of nomination papers began on April 26, there is still uncertainty around the Congress candidates for the two most sought-after Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, Amethi and Rae Bareli.

There are rumors that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Vadra’s husband, Robert Vadra could run from the Gandhi family boroughs. Some people believe that the two “original members” of the Gandhi family—Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Vadra—will lay claim to the family boroughs in order to “send a positive message” to party leaders and cadres as well as voters.

While state officials undoubtedly want Rahul and Priyanka to run from Amethi and Rae Bareli, respectively, in order to inspire voters and cadres, there is talk that Priyanka could withdraw in order to “focus on campaigning.”

The nomination period for the two seats began on April 26 and ends on May 3.

In the country’s current Lok Sabha election, the two constituencies will go to polls on May 20 for the fifth round.

Would they not, would they?

Priyanka has been handling the constituency for her mother; she knows it inside and out and the people there also know her, according to Congress sources about Rae Bareli. Thus, everything will be under control even in the event of a last-minute choice.

In Amethi, too, it is said that “voters there are familiar with Rahul Gandhi.” Within the following day, everything will be completed, they say.

In the event that Priyanka files a candidacy from Pilibhit, where he was the incumbent MP, it seems that the BJP also requested party leader Varun Gandhi to run from Rae Bareli after refusing him a ticket. However, reports claim that he turned down the offer.

Congress’s predicament

Congress officials argue that a delay in the process does not always imply “confusion in the party as their rivals are alleging,” but analysts suggest that the Congress leadership may be facing a “dilemma” that is causing them to postpone making choices.

“If both Priyanka and Rahul win, that means that three members of the family might be represented in parliament. The fact that Mother Sonia Gandhi is already a member of the Rajya Sabha would provide the BJP with fresh fodder against the Gandhi family, they continue.

For this reason, Congress could be thinking of fielding Rahul from Amethi while allowing Priyanka to focus on her campaign.

Furthermore, which seat—Amethi or Wayanad—will be abandoned if Rahul wins Amethi? Also, fielding Priyanka from a seat may constrain her since she is becoming the party’s main campaigner. Furthermore, they say, “it will not be good for her political career or the party’s morale if she loses the very first election.”

Is the BJP benefiting from the Congress’ delay?

While the BJP is taking full advantage of the delay, the Congress’s critics also point out that Amethi and Rae Bareli were on the party’s first list of Uttar Pradesh candidates for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.

The Congress leadership is obviously “afraid of subjecting top leaders to the disgrace of a loss,” as they put it.

2019 saw the comeback of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul to retake the two seats regarded as the party’s “traditional bastions.”

Rahul lost Amethi to Smriti Irani of the BJP, but Sonia prevailed in Rae Bareli.

“Gandhis were aware of the circumstances in Amethi both then and today. They further state that Rahul would have been forced to miss the remaining five years of the Lok Sabha if he had not run in the 2019 election from Wayanad, Kerala.

They said that Rae Bareli’s circumstances had also become “shaky,” which is why Sonia opted to continue serving as an MP in the Rajya Sabha, while Rahul went back to Wayanad in 2024, the seat he had won in 2019.

According to reports, Robert, Rahul’s brother-in-law, seems to be a big fan of Amethi as well.

They further say that in terms of Kharge, the Congress may see him as cashing in on his greatest asset, his caste.