New Delhi:

Rahul Gandhi, the Congress candidate from Raebareli, is campaigning to defend the family bastion – a stronghold of the since Independence.

Mr Gandhi reached the constituency with his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, to participate in one of the biggest rallies since he filed nominations for the seat. It was Mr Gandhi’s first rally in Raebareli.

While concluding his speech, Mr Gandhi asked his supporters whether they had any questions. A supporter in the crowd asked, “When are you getting married?” The Congress leader paused for a few seconds…smiled and said, “Jaldi karni padegi” (Now, I have to get married soon). Mr Gandhi waved at the crowd while his sister smiled and clapped and he walked off the stage.

As he ended his speech, he called his sister to the front of the dais.

Mr Gandhi expressed his appreciation for her efforts in the Raebareli campaign. “I am touring different parts of the country in the election and my sister is spending time here, a big thanks to her for this,” he said.

Priyanka Gandhi, who is not contesting in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, is rallying for her brother in Raebareli and party loyalist and close aide, Kishori Lal Sharma, in Amethi. The two seats combined were considered a stronghold of the party until BJP’s Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi in the previous general elections in 2019 and took the seat away from the Congress.

The suspense surrounding Amethi and Raebareli ended when Congress fielded Kishori Lal Sharma from the former and Mr Gandhi from the latter. The BJP has taunted the Congress for its choice and Ms Irani, the current MP from Amethi even called Mr Sharma a “proxy” and the Gandhis would have fought themselves and not fielded a proxy if they felt they could win.

We will leave no stone unturned in welcoming our guests. Congress’s decision to not field anyone from the Gandhi family in Amethi signifies that it has accepted defeat even before voting takes place,” said the actor-turned-politician.

Rahul Gandhi had won Amethi in 2004, 2009, and 2014, but a defeat to Ms Irani in 2019 reduced the Congress’s UP footprint. He had contested Wayanad in 2019 as a second seat and won it to retain his MP status.

Raebareli’s tryst with Congress can be traced back to the first general elections in 1952 when the seat was held by Feroze Gandhi, the husband of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and son-in-law of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, who won the Raebareli seat in 1952 and then again in 1957. After he died in 1960, the Congress fielded RP Singh in the by-elections and retained the seat.

Sonia Gandhi picked Raebareli, a seat she won for four consecutive terms. In February 2024, when Mrs Gandhi announced her decision to not contest the next Lok Sabha elections, she wrote a letter to the Raebareli electorate, who supported her for two decades. “My family in Delhi is incomplete; it’s you all in Raebareli who complete it,” wrote the former Congress president. She added that her family’s ties with Raebareli run deep and she received it as a “saubhagya (good fortune)” from her in-laws.

New Delhi:

Attacked by the BJP and his former opponent, Smriti Irani, for deciding not to make an attempt to win back the family bastion of Amethi and contesting from the relatively safe seat of Raebareli instead, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said his mother has entrusted him with the responsibility of serving a constituency that means a lot to his family. 

After filing his nomination papers from Sonia Gandhi’s former constituency, which she had held since 2004 before moving to the Rajya Sabha earlier this year, Mr Gandhi said being picked as the candidate for the seat was an emotional moment for him.

Mr Gandhi’s grandmother, Indira Gandhi, and grandfather, Feroze Gandhi, had also represented Raebareli in the Lok Sabha. 

The MP, who is also contesting from the Wayanad seat again, filed his nomination papers earlier on Friday and was accompanied by Sonia Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra – who reportedly chose not to contest from there – and her husband Robert Vadra, and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.

In a post on X, the former Amethi MP also made it a point to state that people from his earlier constituency as well as Raebareli are his family and he sees no difference between them. 

“Nomination from Raebareli was an emotional moment for me! My mother has entrusted me with the responsibility of the family’s workplace (‘karmabhoomi’) and given me the opportunity to serve it. Amethi and Rae Bareli are not different for me, both are my family and I am happy that Kishori Lal ji, who has been serving the area for 40 years, will represent the party from Amethi,” the Congress leader wrote. 

“In the ongoing fight for justice against injustice, I seek the love and blessings of my loved ones. I am confident that all of you stand with me in this fight to save the Constitution and democracy,” he added.

The party’s decision to field Mr Gandhi from Raebareli and family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma from Amethi has given fodder to the BJP, which has accused the Congress leader of being afraid to take on Union Minister Smriti Irani, who had defeated the three-time MP from the seat in 2019. 

The attack was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi who said Mr Gandhi had “run away”.  

“Today I also want to tell him, ‘daro mat‘ (don’t be afraid), ‘bhaago mat‘ (don’t run),” the PM said at a rally in Bengal.

Taking a dig at Rahul Gandhi and his family, Ms Irani said, “The Gandhi family not being present in the election fray in Amethi indicates that Congress party has accepted its defeat in Amethi even before polling is held on the seat. 

“Had they felt there was any chance of victory on the seat, they would have contested from here and not fielded their proxy… The one who was not accepted by Amethi and fled to Wayanad will never fully belong to Rae Bareli,” she was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

Polling in Amethi and Raebareli will be held in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 20. 

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