NEW DELHI:
Rahul Gandhi
is likely to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Rae Bareli seat vacated by his mother while a loyalist of the Congress leader could be fielded from
Amethi
, sources said on Thursday, with the party still to announce its nominees for the constituencies in Uttar Pradesh.
Friday is the last date of filing of nominations for the seats that will go to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase
general elections
.
When asked, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Jairam Ramesh only said that the deadline for filing nomination papers is 3 pm on May 3.
The sources said the party has started making preparations for the nomination filing in both the seats, which have been traditionally held by members of the Gandhi-Nehru family.
Rahul Gandhi is likely to contest from Rae Bareli, the constituency held by his mother Sonia Gandhi who has become a member of the Rajya Sabha, they said.
The BJP on Thursday announced Dinesh Pratap Singh as its
candidate
from Rae Bareli. He had lost to Sonia Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The sources said
Gandhi family
loyalist Kishori Lal is likely to contest from Amethi, which Rahul Gandhi lost to BJP’s Smriti Irani in 2019.
Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi is likely to attend Rahul Gandhi’s nomination process if he is fielded, the sources said.
They said that the Congress has prepared the grandson of former Congress leader and Indira Gandhi’s aunt Sheila Kaul as an alternative candidate.
Confidantes of the Gandhi family have already prepared the nomination papers for Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, even though the party is yet to make a formal announcement on candidatures.
The sources said Rahul Gandhi and party president
Mallikarjun Kharge
, who were both in Karnataka’s Shimoga for a poll rally, held discussions over his nomination.
Posters and banners of Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav were also brought late evening to the Congress office in Gauriganj in Amethi ahead of Friday’s nomination filing.
BJP leader Irani has already filed her nomination papers for the Amethi seat.
The Uttar Pradesh leadership of the Congress has already called upon the Gandhi family to contest both the seats that have been traditionally held it.
The members of the Congress central election committee have also urged the party leadership to field both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi.
The final call, however, has to be taken by the Congerss leadership and the first family of the party.
The Amethi seat has been represented by Rahul Gandhi from 2004 and he remained the member of Parliament from there for three consecutive terms till 2019. He currently represents Kerala’s Wayanad constituency from where he has contested this time also.
Rahul Gandhi had said earlier he will follow “whatever order” he gets from his party.
The Rae Bareli constituency was represented by Sonia Gandhi from 2004 to 2024 and is considered as the traditional pocket borough of the Gandhi-Nehru family.
Prior to this, 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.
Polling for the general elections began on April 19. The counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.
