GG News Bureau
New Delhi, 29th April. Amid speculation about whether members of the Gandhi family will run for the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh and Raebareli, the Congress announced on Monday that its Central Election Committee (CEC) has given party chief Mallikarjun Kharge the authority to choose the candidates for the two constituencies.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress has requested the party’s top leadership to nominate Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra for the two seats.
“In our party, decisions like these are not made by just two people behind closed doors. The CEC has shared its opinions, and with their and the president’s approval, the candidates will be chosen,” she added.
Rahul Gandhi recently ran for the Lok Sabha elections in Kerala’s Wayanad, where voting took place in the second phase of the polls on Friday.
He had previously mentioned that he would follow any instructions given by his party.
There have been rumors that Rahul Gandhi might run for the Lok Sabha elections in Amethi, a seat he held for three consecutive terms, and Priyanka Gandhi might run in Raebareli, a seat previously held by her mother Sonia Gandhi.
Both seats are considered strongholds of the Gandhi family, and the local Congress units have requested that the two family members run there. Mr. Gandhi won the Amethi seat in three straight Lok Sabha elections from 2004. In 2019, BJP leader Smriti Irani took the seat.
Voting in Amethi and Raebareli is scheduled for May 20, during the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress has formed an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
The counting of votes for all seven phases of the Lok Sabha elections will take place on June 4.
