Rae Bareli: Will The Congress Bastion Take Care Of Another Gandhi Now?
Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh is one of the most significant seats in the history of parliamentary elections since it has been the stronghold of several Congress leaders, including Indira Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and Feroz Gandhi. The constituency is comprised of five assembly seats: Bachhrawan, Harchandpur, Rae Bareli, Sareni, and Unchahar.
Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat has been serving as a main stronghold of Congress; they have won 17 of the 20 elections, including by-polls. The Congress fortress was built after Feroz Gandhi”s victory in the 1952 elections. Since 1967, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi has been elected to the Lok Sabha from this seat until 1980, except in 1977, which was the post-emergency poll. Indira Gandhi contested unsuccessfully in 1977 against Raj Narain of the Bhartiya Lok Dal with a margin of 55,202 votes. However, the most successful leader from Rae Bareli was the former Congress chief, Sonia Gandhi. She had won the seat for the last five general elections consecutively. In 2009, Sonia Gandhi received 72% of the votes. In 2014 and 2019, the former Congress chief secured 63% and 55% of votes, respectively. In 2019, Rae Bareli was the lone seat won by Congress from Uttar Pradesh.
As being elected to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan, Sonia Gandhi has passed the baton of Rae Bareli to Rahul Gandhi, her son and allegedly Congress’s prime ministerial face for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, to continue the age-old legacy. Congress has kept a surprise over the candidature of Rahul Gandhi until his filing of the nomination at the closing time. Notably, Rahul Gandhi also contested from the sitting seat in Wayanad constituency in Kerala, making his candidature from Rae Bareli a second choice. However, Gandhi promised earlier that Wayanad would be his main preference. Though Rahul Gandhi won the Wayanad seat in the 2019 polls, he lost Uttar Pradesh”s Amethi, another stronghold of the Gandhi family and Congress.
After filing the nomination of Rae Bareli and understanding the importance of the seat, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has taken charge to handle the BJP in the campaign trails. Congress has also appointed former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel to Rae Bareli to ensure the party”s success. Responding to regional media, Congress workers say that even if the BJP and political parties come up with full strength, the party will win because Rae Bareli is considered the home of the Gandhi family. They also highlight the establishment of factories and trains in the constituency. People, therefore, think that defeating the Gandhi family in Rae Bareli is a highly difficult task.
In the bastion of Congress, the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) has pitted three-time MLA and former Congress member Dinesh Pratap Singh as their candidate. In the 2010 and 2016 assembly elections, Dinesh Singh was elected to Vidhan Sabha on a Congress ticket and once on a BJP ticket in 2022. Dinesh Singh contested the 2019 election against Sonia Gandhi, and he reduced the winning margin for Gandhi to 1,67,178 votes from 3,52,713 in 2014. The BJP won the seat twenty-five years ago, in 1996 and 1998, in the strong wave of the Ram Mandir movement.
Currently, the BJP has started campaigns with the party”s top leaders, such as PM Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, because the BJP doesn’t want to leave any corner weak. In a strong worded attack against Sonia Gandhi, Amit Shah stated that she had spent more than 70% of MP funds on minorities. Amidst discussion in public, the BJP leadership also holds that though Dinesh Singh lost last time, the number of votes he received is higher than any previous BJP candidates received against Gandhi family members.
Besides, the BJP is highlighting the government”s work, listing the start of departments like AIIMS OPD, and emergency services, along with the increasing capacity of railways. In a ground report from, The BJP cadres report to regional media that many development projects, such as roads and national highways, and enthusiasm emanating from the construction of Ram Temple will increase the voting turnout of the BJP. The tension existing between BJP MLA Aditi Singh and the BJP candidate is visible in public. Both leaders have been avoiding sharing stages in most public and party programmes. There is a question on the ground about whether the BJP remains successful in keeping its own people united.
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party (SP) is another key player in Rae Bareli as well as in Uttar Pradesh, whether it is parliamentary or local body elections. SP holds four of the five assembly seats—Bachrawan, Harchandpur, Sareni, and Unchahar—in this Congress stronghold. But, since 2009, the SP has not fielded a candidate in Lok Sabha elections at Rae Bareli. This time, as part of the INDIA alliance between the SP and Congress, many of the SP members participated when Rahul Gandhi filled out nomination papers, extending support. The loyal support of SP and Akhilesh Yadav is critical for Rahul Gandhi and Congress to save one of their historic seats.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the only party contesting solo in all seats in Uttar Pradesh, has fielded Thakur Prasad Yadav. He has contested unsuccessfully in the 2017 and 2022 UP assembly elections. However, political experts consider the Rae Bareli seat very important because the candidature of Rahul Gandhi will also affect the performance of the Congress and INDIA alliance in Uttar Pradesh, as well as in North India, especially in the Hindi heartland.
(This story is part of a Timeline. internship project.)
