Addressing an election rally in West Bengal's Bardhaman-Durgapur, PM Modi asserted, "The result of this election is clear. No need for any opinion polls. I had said this earlier, 'shehzada' (Rahul Gandhi) will also lose from Wayanad. And will therefore look for a second seat.
And now he is scared to fight at Amethi and ran away to Raebareli. I want to tell him, 'Daro Mat, Bhago Mat' (don't be scared, don't run away)," the Prime Minister said.
(On Rahul Gandhi's candidature from Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak says "BJP is going to win in Rae Bareli and Amethi with a huge margin. Rahul Gandhi had first left Amethi and went to Wayanad, now he has come to Rae Bareli. The people of Rae Bareli will never accept him. BJP is going to win all 80 seats in the state with a huge majority...".)
Ending weeks if not months of speculation amid huge predicament faced by the party leadership and the first dynasty; Congress on Friday announced the name of Rahul Gandhi for Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency -- the one represented by his mother Sonia Gandhi for long.
Rahul Gandhi contested from Wayanad in Kerala as well and Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pretty well predicted once polling would be over in the southern state, Rahul will file his nomination from a second seat. In fact, between Amethi and Rae Bareli -- the latter is considered easier for Rahul as he was already humbled in Amethi in 2019.
Incidentally, Rahul's name as the party candidate from Rae Bareli comes within hours the BJP on Thursday late evening declared Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate from the Rae Bareli seat for the Lok Sabha Election 2024.
Rae Bareli, a Gandhi family stronghold, has been won by former Congress President Sonia Gandhi four consecutive times.
Dinesh Pratap Singh is a Uttar Pradesh Minister of State (Independent Charge).
He had fought the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the Raebareli constituency and was defeated by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.
Singh was earlier in the Congress party. He became a member of the Legislative Council from Congress for the first time in 2010 and for the second time in 2016. He quit the Congress and joined the BJP in 2018.
The BJP then fielded him as its candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections against Sonia Gandhi from Raebareli. In 2022, Dinesh Pratap Singh became an MLC for the third time.
On the other hand, the BJP's Smriti Irani, the giant killer of 2019 polls, will face Congress nominee K L Sharma in Amethi.
Sharma is a close aide of the Gandhi family and has been associated with the party for over four decades. Originally from Ludhiana in Punjab, Kishori Lal Sharma stepped into Raebareli and Amethi with Rajiv Gandhi in 1983.
Rahul had a triangular contest in Wayanad in Kerala as he faces Ms Annie Raja of the Communist party of India (CPI) and BJP’s K Surendran, among others.
In 2019, Rahul Gandhi defeated the CPI candidate by more than 400,000 votes, the highest margin in Kerala, although he lost his second seat to BJP in the family bastion of Amethi.
India allows a candidate to contest more than one seat but they can keep only one if they record multiple victories.
In 2019, the Congress won its second-lowest number of seats – 52 – in Lok Sabha. Kerala alone contributed the highest tally of 15.
Five years before in 2014; the Congress slumped to a historic low of 44 when it was swept out of power by the BJP in 2014. In both 2014 and 2019 national election; the Congress tally of 44 and 52 were less than one tenth of the total 543 members in the House of the people.
In 2014, the BJP won 282 recording an increase of 166 seats. For Congress, there was loss of 162 seats.
RG is going to win from Wayanad for sure then will Raebareili become stepson given that this UP seat is a Gandhi bastion for long or will it be other way round? It seems Congress is making sure that RG gets to sit in the hallowed precincts of the green-carpeted hall in the parliament building. - K.P, Pune
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