NEW DELHI: Congress workers in Uttar Pradesh staged a sit-in protest on Tuesday, pressing the party to nominate a member of the Gandhi family for the
Amethi Lok Sabha seat
. The constituency is scheduled for polls on May 20 as part of the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections.
With only three days remaining for the filing of nomination papers, the Congress is yet to announce a candidate for the seat, noted the party’s district spokesperson, Anil Singh.
Leaders and workers, including Congress district president Pradeep Singhal and former district president Yogendra Mishra, gathered at the party office with posters bearing the message “Amethi demands Rahul Gandhi. Amethi Demands Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.”
Singh emphasized the desire of the constituency’s people and Congress workers for a Gandhi family member as their candidate. “People of the constituency and Congress workers want a member of the Gandhi family as their candidate. We want Rahul Gandhi to contest from Amethi to bring back its lost honour,” Singh said.
The demonstrators called for an immediate declaration of a candidate by the Congress for Amethi, insisting that the nominee should hail from the Gandhi family.
The seat was previously held by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in 2014. However, in 2019, Gandhi contested from Wayanad in Kerala and lost Amethi to BJP’s Smriti Irani.
Irani, the BJP’s candidate once again, filed her nomination papers on April 29, vying for the constituency that was historically associated with the Gandhi family.
Amid speculation about the Congress’s choice for Amethi, posters advocating for Rahul Gandhi’s brother-in-law, Robert Vadra, emerged in the constituency on April 24.
The seat has a legacy of being represented by Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, and Sonia Gandhi in the past.
(With agency inputs)
