Rahul Gandhi For Amethi, Priyanka Gandhi For Rae Bareli? Kharge Will Take A Call

Congress’ Central Election Committee (CEC) met today and discussed about the candidates for party’s citadels Amethi and Rae Bareli. According to reports, members of the committee urged the party leadership to field Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Amethi and Rae Bareli respectively and the final call on the candidacy of both the Gandhi siblings has now been left with Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. Kharge will ‘consult’ Sonia Gandhi before taking a decision, as per reports.

Since Sonia Gandhi has decided to leave electoral politics and entered the Parliament through Rajya Sabha, it was rumoured that Priyanka Gandhi will take the baton for Rae Bareli and will contest from there as the party candidate. Rae Bareli was the only constituency Congress won during the last Lok Sabha elections. Sonia Gandhi has been winning the Rae Bareli constituency since 2004.

Also, the political circle was abuzz with the rumour that Congress will announce Rahul Gandhi’s candidature from Amethi, his second seat after Wayanad where the elections were held on April 26, soon after the polling in the second phase is over. Rahul Gandhi, former Congress president and current MP from Wayanad, was elected thrice from Amethi before 2019.

Reports said the Kharge is expected to announce his decision in one or two days. Many in the meeting, including leaders from Uttar Pradesh where the party had seen its worst ever performance in 2019, have demanded the candidature of Gandhi siblings from the Amethi and Rae Bareli seats.

The meeting was attended by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former president Sonia Gandhi, general secretary in charge of organisation KC Venugopal, senior party leader Salman Khurshid among others.