Congress Will Win Amethi, Rae Bareli LS Seats, Says KL Sharma Who Is Pitted Against Smriti Irani

Congress nominee from Amethi Lok Sabha segment KL Sharma thanked the Gandhi family, SP leader Akhilesh Yadav and all senior leaders for supporting him. He exuded confidence that the Congress would win both Amethi and Rae Bareli seats.

New Delhi:The Congress will win both the Rae Bareli and Amethi Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, Amethi candidate KL Sharma said on Tuesday, a day after polling on May 20. “The Congress will win both Rae Bareli and Amethi seats, but I would not like to comment on the margins at this point. It was an honour for me to be a party candidate in the Gandhi family stronghold,” KL Sharma told ETV Bharat.

While Sharma is pitted against Union Minister Smriti Irani in Amethi, former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi fought against BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh in Rae Bareli. Sharma, who had been managing the Rae Bareli and Amethi seats for the Gandhi family over the past four decades, was chosen as the Amethi candidate at the eleventh hour as the Congress strategically shifted Rahul, who represented Amethi from 2004 to 2019, to nearby Rae Bareli.

Rahul’s mother and former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi represented Rae Bareli in the Lok Sabha from 2004-2024 during which Sharma diligently managed her office in the parliamentary constituency, coordinated development works and facilitated political and social events. With Rahul, who was busy campaigning across the country, joining the fray in Rae Bareli and Sharma in Amethi, senior leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra decided to camp in the two Gandhi family strongholds and conducted a hectic campaign to ensure the victory of both her brother and the family loyalist.

“Priyanka Gandhi led a very positive and strong campaign for around two weeks in both seats. Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav also campaigned here besides several senior leaders of both parties. I thank all of them for supporting me. Our concept of social justice found favour with the voters, who were angry with the BJP,” said Sharma.

According to the Congress leader, Priyanka Gandhi camped in the area for around a fortnight and addressed over 100 public meetings to mobilise support for the party nominees and take on the BJP’s false propaganda. “A strong indicator of the impact of our aggressive campaign is the feedback that we are getting from the booth in charge across Rae Bareli and Amethi. They are excited about the outcome,” said Sharma.

The feedback is part of the training that had been imparted to the booth in charge, who were tasked with bringing the voters to the polling station and were now enlisting themselves with the local party office so their efforts could be verified. After running a hectic campaign, Sharma said he had been busy throughout the polling day on May 20 monitoring the polling booths in his constituency and reached home very late in the night.

“I travelled across Amethi throughout the day on May 20 to monitor the polling stations as there were several reports of EVMs malfunctioning and other poll-related issues. I reached home at 4 am this morning, got a few hours of sleep and am now travelling again to meet the party workers in the area,” said Sharma. “Rahul Gandhi also travelled across Rae Bareli on May 20 to monitor the polling stations. We are now compiling a list of all poll-related complaints and will submit it to the Election Commission soon,” he added.