Ajay Setia
Rahul Gandhi has decided to contest the election from Rae Bareli instead of Amethi. There, the logistics provided by Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav will be valuable for them. The main thing is that since there are traditional voters of Congress in this place even today, Rahul will also benefit from it. He will fight against BJP candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh.
After the polling in Wayanad, Rahul has filed his candidature from Rae Bareli constituency in Uttar Pradesh. It should be called natural. Had he not contested from Uttar Pradesh, he would not have been considered a serious candidate for the post of Prime Minister. Moreover, Rahul is constantly targeting Modi in campaign meetings. Even today, the importance of Uttar Pradesh remains intact in Indian politics. That is why Modi has also contested elections twice from Varanasi constituency so far. Out of the fifteen prime ministers in the country so far, nine have won elections from constituencies in Uttar Pradesh.
Like Rahul's grandfather Feroze Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and then Sonia Gandhi also contested from Rae Bareli. In fact Rahul himself was elected to the Lok Sabha thrice from Amethi. Against this backdrop, Congress stalwarts feel that Rae Bareli is a safer constituency compared to Amethi. Initially, there was an opinion in the Congress that Rahul should contest from Rae Bareli and Priyanka from Amethi. That thought fell through and it was discussed that Priyanka should contest from Mandi constituency in Himachal Pradesh. However, Priyanka denied it. Now the Gandhi family's strategy is that if Rahul wins from Wayanad, Priyanka will be given a chance in the by-elections to be held there. Congress media general secretary Jairam Ramesh has given such an indication.
Equal fight in Amethi too
Kishori Lal Sharma, who is now considered close to Sonia Gandhi, has been given a chance from Amethi. He has worked as Sonia's election representative for many years. Therefore, he was promoted to the post of regional level office bearer. He knows all the khachakho in Amethi constituency very well. Therefore, for BJP candidate and Union Minister Smriti Irani, the match in Amethi has not been as easy as it seems.
Considering the five constituencies of the Legislative Assembly coming to Rae Bareli Lok Sabha Constituency, Samajwadi Party MLAs have been elected in four places. BJP's Aditi Singh won from Rae Bareli assembly constituency. When Rahul Gandhi filed his candidature, Congress and Samajwadi Party made a strong show of strength. Congress's traditional voters and Samajwadi Party's support have created a good chance for Rahul to win from Rae Bareli as well.
