She may not be the candidate, but senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is leading from the front when it comes to the party’s campaign in two prestige seats in Uttar Pradesh – Amethi and Raebareli. While her brother Rahul Gandhi is the candidate from Raebareli, Gandhi family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma is the party’s pick for the Amethi seat.

Ms Gandhi Vadra is scheduled to hold as many as nine nukkad sabhas today to mark the beginning of a whirlwind outreach campaign. The 52-year-old leader reached Raebareli on Monday and held marathon meetings with local Congress leaders in the Bhuemau guesthouse over the past two days.

In a meeting on Monday, Ms Gandhi Vadra is learnt to have told Congress workers that she “will not move from Raebareli till May 18”. Both Raebareli and Amethi vote in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha polls on May 20.

“We have to fight Amethi and Raebareli strongly. Now, your 24 hours in a day belong to me. I will scold you, make you run, but stand strongly with you. The doors of my home are open for you round the clock. This election is an election to save the Constitution. The BJP wants to take away reservation benefits from you,” Ms Gandhi Vadra told the meeting, according to Congress workers.

Since its first Lok Sabha election in 1952, the Congress has lost Raebareli just thrice — in the post Emergency election in 1977 and in 1996 and 1998 elections. Veteran Congress leader Sonia Gandhi managed to win the seat despite a wave is support of the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the 2014 and 2019 election. Mrs Gandhi has now moved to the Rajya Sabha owing to health issues. This time, the party has chosen to field Rahul Gandhi from its traditional stronghold that has been represented by Feroze Gandhi and Indira Gandhi in the past. He is up against Uttar Pradesh minister Dinesh Pratap Singh, who lost to Mrs Gandhi in the 2019 election by over 1.67 lakh votes.

In Amethi, the Congress faces a tougher fight. The seat, which has been represented by Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in the past, was won by Rahul Gandhi thrice in a row before he was defeated by the BJP’s Smriti Irani in the 2019 election. Ms Irani, a Union minister, is the BJP’s candidate this time and has been campaigning extensively much before the Congress announced its candidate. The BJP leader has said she is confident of a win this time too. “The fact that the Gandhis are not fighting in Amethi shows that even before a vote has been cast, they are losing from Amethi. If they had seen even a glimmer of hope, they would have contested and not put up a proxy candidate,” Ms Irani told reporters after the Congress announced Mr Sharma as its candidate.

The grassroots leader, who has worked in Amethi and Raebareli as an MP’s representative before, has said he wants an opportunity to serve the people of Amethi. “The people of Amethi are in my heart. I have been here for 40 years. I am following the direction of the top leadership. I just want people to give me a chance to serve them,” Mr Sharma has said.

New Delhi:

Mother Sonia Gandhi and sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra by his side, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today field nomination papers for the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi’s husband Robert Vadra were also with Mr Gandhi as he submitted the papers at the district magistrate’s office.

Early this morning, the Congress leadership announced its candidates for two high-profile seats – Amethi and Raebareli. Putting an end to speculation that Mr Gandhi may be fielded from Amethi, a seat he has represented thrice in Lok Sabha, the Congress picked Kishori Lal Sharma for the seat.

Rae Bareli is considered one of the safest seats for the Congress. Out of the 20 elections it has witnessed so far, the Congress has won 17. History, however, also records an odd distinction for this seat — Raebareli is the seat from where a sitting Prime Minister lost an election. This was when Indira Gandhi was defeated by Janata Party’s Raj Narain in the 1977 elections after Emergency. Earlier, the seat has been represented by Mr Gandhi’s grandfather and Indira Gandhi’s husband, Feroze Gandhi.

Over the past two decades, the seat has elected Sonia Gandhi. Despite the wave in support of the BJP in 2014 and 2019, this seat stayed with the Congress. Mrs Gandhi has now moved to Rajya Sabha, vacating the prestige seat for her son. In Raebareli, Mr Gandhi is up against the BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh, who finished a runner-up in the 2019 election.

Congress’s Amethi pick Mr Sharma is a long-term loyalist of the Gandhi family and has been working as an MP’s representative in the two constituencies for a long time. Congress leaders say he is a grassroots man and hope this will pay off in the polls.

Speaking to the media, Mr Sharma said he has been working in Amethi for 40 years now. “I am very grateful that the Congress has given this opportunity to an ordinary worker like me. I came here in 1987 as a Youth Congress member and from then I have been here. I started my career with Rajiv (Gandhi) ji. In 1987, Rajivji brought me here. Then the circumstances were such that I stayed here.” 

Ms Gandhi Vadra praised Mr Sharma and wished him luck. “Kishori Lal Sharma shares a bond with our family. He has been dedicated to serving the people of Amethi and Rae Bareli. His zeal for public service is an example,” she said. “It is heartening that the Congress has named him its candidate from Amethi. His dedication and sense of duty will surely bring him success in this election,” she posted on X.

But Mr Sharma’s fight is not going to be easy. He is up against Union Minister Smriti Irani, who had trumped Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 election. Ms Irani has been camping in the constituency for a while now and has the advantage of a headstart due to the BJP’s early announcement of her candidature.

Ms Irani says she has worked very hard in Amethi and has taken a swipe at Mr Gandhi for “conceding defeat before the polls”.

Like Raebareli, Amethi, too, has been a Gandhi family stronghold for years and has been represented by four Gandhis so far — Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Rishikesh, Uttarakhand:

Congress leader Priynaka Gandhi Vadra’s husband Robert Vadra, who had earlier expressed his desire to contest from the Amethi parliamentary seat, has said that the “entire country” wishes for him to get into active politics.

Robert Vadra also claimed that Smriti Irani, the sitting MP from Amethi has not fulfilled her promises.

“The voice is coming from the entire country. They want me to get into active politics as I have always been among the people of the country. People always want me to be there in their region. I have campaigned there (Amethi) since 1999. Smriti Irani, the sitting MP from hasn’t fulfilled her promises,” Mr Vadra said when asked whether he would contest from Amethi Lok Sabha seat.

Robert Vadra said that Congress is comfortably ahead of the BJP after the conclusion of two phases of Lok Sabha polls.

“People want change. They want to get rid of the BJP which is misusing the central agencies. People of India are with the Gandhi family as they are seeing the hard work put in by Rahul and Priyanka,” he claimed.

Robert Vadra had expressed similar intentions earlier this month, saying that the people of Amethi expect him to represent their constituency if he thinks of becoming a member of Parliament.

“They want a member of the Gandhi family returns, they will ensure the person’s victory with a huge margin, they also expect that if I take my first step in politics, and think of becoming an MP, then I should represent Amethi,” he had said on April 4.

Earlier, posters featuring Robert Vadra, appeared outside the party’s office on Wednesday in the Gauriganj area of Amethi. This raised speculations of a possible ticket for Vadra.

Robert Vadra, however, said a decision on Amethi and Rae Bareli constituencies will be taken by the Congress leadership.

Sources have told  Press Trust of India, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi are likely to contest the Lok Sabha election from Rae Bareli and Amethi seats, respectively. A final decision will be taken after April 26 and nominations can be filed next week, according to sources.

Smriti Irani defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi. Irani has been fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party from the seat again.

As per the seat agreement between the Samajwadi Party and Congress in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress will contest 17 seats and the Samajwadi Party the remaining 63 seats in the electorally crucial state.

Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituencies will vote in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 20.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)