Face-Off With Smriti Irani Again? Congress District President Says Rahul Gandhi To Contest Lok Sabha Election From Amethi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, currently on Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, will contest the Lok Sabha election from Uttar Pradesh's Amethi, as per a party leader quoted by The Hindu.

Congress District President of Amethi, Pradeep Singhal gave this information to the media after returning from Delhi and said Gandhi's name would be announced soon by the party.

Amethi has been represented by Gandhi in Lok Sabha for 15 years, from 2004 to 2019. However, he lost to BJP's Smriti Irani in the 2019 elections by a margin of over 50,000 votes.

At that time Gandhi had contested from Kerala's Wayanad as well and won there with a margin of over 4 lakh votes. This time, its ally under INDI Alliance, CPI has already announced its candidate from Wayanad.

Meanwhile, Smriti Irani has strengthened her base in Amethi by having a grih pravesh (housewarming ceremony) last month in the constituency, as per her electoral promise.

She was also declared as the BJP candidate for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in the party's first list of candidates with 195 names. She is currently a Union Cabinet Minister.

If Rahul Gandhi indeed contests from Amethi, it will be his third electoral face-off with Irani. She had contested against Gandhi in 2014 as well but lost that time. However, she became a minister then also.