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The anticipation surrounding the Congress’s candidate selection for the Amethi and Raebareli constituencies in Uttar Pradesh has reached a fever pitch as the Lok Sabha election draws near. With speculations rife about senior leader Rahul Gandhi’s potential candidacy, his conspicuous silence on the matter has only added fuel to the fire.
In a recent joint press conference with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav in Ghaziabad, Rahul Gandhi deftly sidestepped inquiries about his electoral plans for the two bastions. When confronted with the question of whether he would contest from Amethi or Raebareli, his response was laced with political finesse: “This is BJP’s question, very good. Whatever order I will get, I will follow it. In our party, all these (selections of candidates) decisions are taken by the CEC (Congress’ Central Election Committee).”
This ambiguity comes in the wake of Congress MP Jairam Ramesh’s assertion that the party desires Rahul Gandhi to run from the Amethi seat and Priyanka Gandhi from Raebareli. Ramesh’s statement, made just a day prior, hinted at the party’s internal deliberations regarding the optimal candidate lineup.
However, complicating matters further, Priyanka Gandhi’s husband, Robert Vadra, expressed his own aspirations for political involvement, specifically eyeing the Amethi constituency. “If I would contest, I would prefer Amethi. My first step in politics should be Amethi,” Vadra declared on April 4th, injecting another layer of uncertainty into the mix.
The Congress Working Committee member AK Antony recently addressed the issue during an interview with a TV channel in Thiruvananthapuram, confirming that a member of the Gandhi family would indeed vie for either Raebareli or Amethi. In a move seemingly aimed at quelling Vadra’s ambitions, Antony stated definitively, “either Priyanka or Rahul” would be the chosen contender for one of these crucial constituencies.
Rahul Gandhi’s current parliamentary tenure represents the Wayanad constituency in Kerala, a strategic move made subsequent to his loss in Amethi to BJP’s Smriti Irani during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, his reticence regarding the upcoming electoral battlegrounds in UP has left both supporters and opponents alike eagerly awaiting the next move in this political chess game.
