Amethi and Rae Bareli were once strongholds of the Gandhi family. People of both the Uttar Pradesh cities will vote on May 20 in the fifth phase of polling
Amid the buzz of businessman Robert Vadra’s debut from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi, Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law has once again hinted at his political ambitions. He told a news agency that people of Amethi feel that if he contests from the seat, the voters will have the option of “correcting their mistake of electing Smriti Irani”.
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In an interview with IANS, Robert Vadra said, “Not just Amethi, I am getting party workers’ support from all over the country to actively join politics. Yes, I admit that the Amethi bit (of him contesting Lok Sabha polls from the constituency) is getting more prominence because I have campaigned there since 1999.”
“They (people of Amethi) feel that if I contest from there, they’ll have the option of correcting their mistake of electing Smritiji. I am sure they will ensure my victory by a huge margin if I contest. However, I will not fight to challenge someone even though Smritiji levelled unsubstantiated allegations against me in the past,” he further told the news agency.
Vadra, however, added that he would show his full support to his brother-in-law Rahul Gandhi if he decided to file his nomination from the Amethi seat.
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Amethi will vote on May 20 in the fifth phase of polling along with UP’s Mohanlalganj, Lucknow, Rae Bareli, Jalaun, Jhansi, Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Barabanki, Faizabad, Kaiserganj and Gonda.
Amethi and Rae Bareli were once strongholds of the Gandhi family. However, in 2019 elections, Rahul Gandhi was dethroned by Union minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani.
On the other hand, Rae Bareli has been represented in the Lok Sabha by Sonia Gandhi since 2004. The former Congress president, however, moved to the Upper House of Parliament. Congress Uttar Pradesh in-charge Avinash Pandey on Monday said the names for both seats would be announced at the “right time”.
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There are speculations that Sonia’s daughter and Robert Vadra’s wife Priyanka Gandhi Vadra may be given the Congress nomination from Rae Bareli. Priyanka Gandhi, so far, has not indicated her wish on contesting polls.
A report in The Sunday Guardian stated that she is apparently disappointed at being sidelined in the party, which is virtually being run by her brother, Rahul and his coterie, with Sonia Gandhi endorsing every decision.
The report further stated that there is probably a difference in the family and this may impact the elections.
In the light of this, there is also demand that the party chief, Mallikarjun Kharge, should be asked to enter the fray from Rae Bareli, and one of the Gandhi siblings should contest from Amethi, to send the right signal to the cadre, the publication mentioned.
