The new Gandhi in Rae Bareli: Rahul files nomination papers from Congress bastion

04/05/2024

Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh: Surrounded by a sea of supporters, both from the Congress and its INDIA bloc ally the Samajwadi Party (SP), Rahul Gandhi Friday filed his nomination from Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh. He was accompanied by former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Robert Vadra.

Rahul Gandhi, also on the ballot from Wayanad in Kerala — the seat he won in 2019 — is contesting against BJP candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh, who was with the Congress until 2018. Singh had contested against Sonia Gandhi, the incumbent MP from Rae Bareli, in the previous general election and lost by a margin of more than 1.67 lakh votes.

Sonia Gandhi had held the Rae Bareli seat since 2004 but was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan earlier this year. The seat has been a Congress party bastion since 1952, barring two exceptions when Raj Narain won it for the Janata Party in 1977 and Ashok Singh won it for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1996 and again in 1998.

From the other family bastion of Amethi, the Congress has fielded Kishori Lal Sharma, a loyalist of the Gandhis, against Union minister Smriti Irani, who won the seat by defeating Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

ThePrint’s Suraj Singh Bisht brings you glimpses from Rae Bareli where Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination papers.