It was right before the deadline for the nomination for the twin Lok Sabha seats of Amethi and Rae Bareli was to expire that the Congress announced its candidates for the two constituencies today. This in itself shows that it was not an easy call to take for the party, and especially the Gandhis.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be contesting from the family bastion of Rae Bareli. The seat was recently vacated by Rahul's mother, former party chief Sonia Gandhi, who has now moved to the Rajya Sabha. Contrary to what was expected, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has decided to stay away from the electoral fray.
Amethi, Rahul's original Lok Sabha seat from where he lost to BJP's Smriti Irani in 2019, will have Gandhi family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma in the fray this time.
It was earlier widely believed that Rahul would return to Amethi in this election, and Priyanka would contest from Rae Bareli. However, according to party sources, Priyanka has been steadfast in her resolve to not contest elections and focus on campaigning for the party across the country. She is learnt to have conveyed her decision to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge well in advance. She was under tremendous pressure from leaders and workers to contest from either of the two seats, but she was clear that she saw her role in this election only as a campaigner for the party.
The decision to have Rahul in the fray from Rae Bareli emanates from the concern that contesting from Amethi would have resulted in the BJP putting all its might in the constituency to try and defeat him. According to a senior Congress leader, Rahul would have been pulled into a confrontation with Irani which would have then grabbed the media headlines and distracted from the party's larger campaign for the elections and also the projection and campaign of the former Amethi MP.
The leader said the party has taken the decision while being fully aware that the BJP would use the situation to describe Rahul as someone who has run away from the contest in Amethi. He also said that had Priyanka also contested, the BJP would have intensified its attack on the Congress and the Gandhi family for propagating dynastic politics.
The party also expects the BJP to talk about Rahul betraying the people of Wayanad. However, the party felt it was important for Rahul to contest from a seat in north India, and since it was crucial to ensure that Rae Bareli also did not go out of its hold, it was only natural that he should fight from there.
According to the leader, the decision on the two seats was primarily taken by the Gandhi family. Sharma, who has been a long-time family representative in Amethi, has been given the task of taking on Irani. He is described as an authority on the political scenario in Amethi and Rae Bareli.
Sonia had in 2004 moved from Amethi to Rae Bareli, leaving the seat for Rahul to make his electoral debut. She had since represented Rae Bareli before recently getting elected as a member of the Rajya Sabha.
