As Cong remains silent, fake news claims Rahul Gandhi to contest from Amethi, Priyanka at Raebareli

NEW DELHI: Even as the Congress high command maintained the stoic silence on the candidates that the party would field from Amethi and Raebareli, the seats that have been represented by the Gandhi family for several generation, a fake notification issued in the party’s name claimed that Rahul Gandhi would contest from Amethi while his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadhra will enter the electoral field from Raebareli.

Rahul had lost from Amethi in the 2019 elections, while Raebareli was represented by his mother Sonia Gandhi in the last Lok Sabha. Citing health grounds, Sonia has stayed away from elections this time, preferring to enter the Parliament through Rajya Sabha route.

Though Rahul is contesting from Wayanad in Kerala, from where he was election last time, there is intense speculation that he will contest from Amethi this year to recapture the seat from BJP’s Smriti Irani. Unlike his brother who has been in active politics since 2004 when the Congress-led UPA came to power at the Centre, Priyanka has entered politics only recently and has never contested an election so far.

There are demands from several Congress leaders in Uttar Pradesh asking the brother-sister duo, widely considered as the real power centre in the Congress, to lead from front to take the party’s fight to the BJP.

Meanwhile, amid the mounting suspense over the Amethi and Raebareli Lok Sabha seats, the Congress on Wednesday asserted that "nobody is scared" and a decision on the matter would be announced in the next 24-30 hours.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that party's central election committee (CEC) has empowered Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to finalise the candidates for Amethi and Raebareli.

"My expectation is that in the next 24-30 hours, the Congress president will finalise and a decision taken by him will be announced," Ramesh said in response to a question at a press conference at the AICC headquarters here.

"Till that is done all the information, all so-called office orders are fake," he said.

Asked why there is delay in taking a decision and if the Congress was "scared" in fielding Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, Ramesh said, "There is no delay. Has the BJP not announced its candidates in Raebareli? Smriti Irani is a sitting MP. Nobody is scared, discussions are ongoing, the Congress president has been authorized."

"There is no delay, there is time till May 3," he said.

The state leadership in Uttar Pradesh has already urged the central election committee and the party leadership to field Rahul Gandhi from Amethi and Priyanka from Rae Bareli.

The CEC members had also supported the view of the Uttar Pradesh Congress during its last meeting on Saturday.

The Amethi seat has been represented by Rahul Gandhi from 2004 and he remained the member of Parliament from the constituency for three consecutive terms till 2019 when he was defeated by BJP's Smriti Irani.

Rahul Gandhi currently represents the Wayanad constituency in Kerala, from where he had contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha election and also this time.

The Amethi and Raebareli constituencies go to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections.

Rahul Gandhi has said earlier that he will follow "whatever order" he gets from his party.

Speculation had been rife that Rahul Gandhi might contest the Lok Sabha polls from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Raebareli, a seat that was previously held by her mother Sonia Gandhi.

Both seats are considered bastions of the Gandhi family and the local units of the Congress have demanded that the two scions of the family contest from there.

The Congress has forged an alliance with the SP in Uttar Pradesh and is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state.

The Lok Sabha polls are being held in seven phases starting April 19. The counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.