News Brief
Kuldeep Negi
May 03, 2024, 08:24 AM | Updated 08:24 AM IST
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After days of speculations over candidates from Amethi and Raebareli, Congress has finally announced the names of its candidates from the two high-profile seats in the Uttar Pradesh.
The party has announced that Kishori Lal Sharma will contest from Amethi while Rahul Gandhi will fight the Lok Sabha elections from Raebareli, an apparent 'safe' seat traditionally held by Gandhi family.
His mother Sonia Gandhi had won the Raebareli seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, she decided not to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, and was sent to Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan by the party.
Interestingly, the party did not field Rahul from the Amethi, a seat from where he made his political debut and won it several times before being defeated by BJP leader Smriti Irani in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Congress announced the names just a day before the nomination deadline for Phase five of the Lok Sabha elections.
Earlier, speculations were rife that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra could contest from the Raebareli seat.
Both, Amethi and Raebareli seats will go for polls in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on 20 May.
Kuldeep is Senior Editor (Newsroom) at Swarajya. He tweets at @kaydnegi.