Congress' Amethi, Raebareli Suspense Continues, Friday Last Date of Nomination: Will Rahul, Priyanka Contest?

Who will be Congress' pick for Amethi and Raebareli Lok Sabha seats? Sources say the final decision is expected to come by Friday morning. Friday is the last day of filing nominations for the seats. Will Rahul Gandhi contest from Amethi? Will Priyanka Gandhi fight from Raebareli? Or does Congress have some other names up its sleeve? Stay on this page for all the latest updates on this big story.

New Delhi:The suspense over Congress nominees from Amethi and Raebareli continues, with the grand old party expected to announce its candidates from the two prestigious constituencies by the morning of Friday, the last day of filing nominations for the two seats.

While the party has started making preparations for the nomination filing in both the seats in Uttar Pradesh, which have been traditionally held by members of the Gandhi-Nehru family, sources said the final confirmation on names will come from the top party leadership by Friday morning.

They added that Rahul Gandhi is the most likely choice of the party for Amethi, a seat he lost to Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Congress Parliamentary Party chief Sonia Gandhi is also likely to attend the nomination filing Friday, the sources said. They also said that the Congress has prepared an alternative plan in case Priyanka Gandhi Vadra does not contest from Raebareli.

On Wednesday, 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. Ramesh said the names would be announced "in the next 24-30 hours".

Confidantes of the Gandhi family who held the fort at the ground level are already in Amethi and have prepared the nominations for the both Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi, even though the party is yet to make any formal announcement.

According to party insiders, at a recent CEC meeting chaired by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, the UP in charge and CLP leader Aradhana Mishra were called to discuss the two seats. During the meeting, the two UP leaders reiterated that the voters and party workers in Amethi and Raebareli wanted only a Gandhi family member to contest the national polls. Finally, it was left for the Gandhi family to decide whether to contest or not.

What are the scenarios

As the Gandhis are taking time mulling over the issue, various scenarios are being discussed within the party circles in hush tones – Rahul may contest Amethi and Priyanka may not join the contest at all or Rahul may shift to Raebareli and Priyanka may fight from Amethi or persons close to the family might be fielded from the two seats.

While a section of Congress leaders said the party managers may have a plan B, in case the Gandhis refused to fight, former UP unit chief Brijlal Khabri said a scenario like that was highly unlikely. “I think the Gandhis only will contest from the two seats. The only thing to be decided is who picks up which seat. I don’t think another person will contest from there,” Khabri told ETV Bharat earlier this week.

History of these seats
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. He currently represents the Wayanad constituency in Kerala from where he has contested this time also. Rahul Gandhi had said earlier he will follow "whatever order" he gets from his party.

The Amethi and Raebareli constituencies go to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections. The Raebareli constituency was represented by Sonia Gandhi from 2004 to 2024. Prior to that, Sonia Gandhi had represented the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency after she entered politics and contested for the first time in 1999.

The seat has previously been represented by Sanjay Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi. The Congress has forged an alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh as part of the INDIA bloc 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.