‘Rae Bareli pukarti…’: Posters in Congress bastion bat for Priyanka Gandhi

Lucknow: As the Congress leadership braces for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, there’s growing clamour for fielding Priyanka Gandhi from Rae Bareli and Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in the two Lok Sabha constituencies.
A Rae Bareli Congress delegation met top Congress leaders in New Delhi on Wednesday suggesting that All-India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Priyanka Gandhi should contest from the Rae Bareli seat. Amethi Congress leaders are already firm on their view that senior party leader Rahul Gandhi should contest polls from the Amethi seat.
The Congress and the Samajwadi Party have entered a seat-sharing pact for 2024 polls, and 17 seats that have gone to the grand old party’s quota, include Rae Bareli and Amethi.
“District Congress Committee (DCC), Rae Bareli, passed a resolution on February 13, demanding that Priyanka Gandhi or a member of the Gandhi family should contest the LS election from Rae Bareli seat. This was the time when partymen got indications that the party’s top leader Sonia Gandhi may take the Rajya Sabha route from Rajasthan. We are at the AICC headquarters in New Delhi on Wednesday with a large delegation of partymen to press this demand,” said DCC (Rae Bareli) president Pankaj Tiwari.
Senior Congress leader KL Sharma, who has worked as Sonia Gandhi’s representative in Rae Bareli and Amethi, confirmed that a delegation of party leaders from Rae Bareli is camping in New Delhi to press the demand for fielding Priyanka Gandhi from Rae Bareli.
He said a delegation from Amethi has also met the Congress leaders in New Delhi to demand that Rahul Gandhi be fielded from Amethi. Sharma said a decision on fielding candidates for the two seats would be taken by the Gandhi family only.
“We met Congress leaders in Delhi to demand that Rahul Gandhi should contest LS elections from Amethi. The Congress high command has asked us to make poll preparations,” said DCC (Amethi) president Pradeep Singhal.
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As large billboards displaying slogans like ‘Rae Bareli pukarti. Priyanka Gandhi aaiye’ (Rae Bareli invites Priyanka Gandhi) have also been put up by local Congress leaders in Rae Bareli, all eyes are set on the Congress’ decision on the issue.
The BJP is yet to announce its candidate from Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat though the party has decided to field union minister Smriti Irani from Amethi Lok Sabha seat again in 2024. Rae Bareli and Amethi were considered Congress bastions till 2019 LS polls when Sonia Gandhi won from Rae Bareli while Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi in Amethi.
Meanwhile, UPCC president Ajay Rai and Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhna Mishra ‘Mona’, along with AICC general secretary in-charge UP Avinash Pandey met senior party leaders in New Delhi to discuss preparations for LS elections. Rai said the party was yet to hold discussions about Congress’ probable candidates from UP.
“We are yet to hold a meeting of the Pradesh Election Committee. Once the PEC shortlists the possible names, they will be sent for consideration to the Central Election Committee. On Wednesday, we only discussed general poll preparations,” said Rai. Aradhana Mishra also said the party has a set procedure of shortlisting probable candidates with the PEC being the first stage. “We will discuss the probable names at the PEC and then take them to the CEC. We only discussed electoral preparations at Wednesday’s meeting,” she added.