New Delhi: Months-long suspense over Congress candidates in Rae Bareli and Amethi finally ended on Friday, with the grand old party announcing the names of Rahul Gandhi from Rae Bareli and Kishori Lal Sharma from Amethi, the two key constituencies in Uttar Pradesh.
The Congress declared the names just hours before the filing of nominations for the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha election comes to an end. He is pitted against Dinesh Pratap Singh of the BJP.
Rahul Gandhi is already contesting from the Wayanad Constituency in Kerala, where he is the sitting MP, which went to polls in the second phase on April 26.
Despite the Congress party’s rout from the politically crucial state, Raebareli and Amethi consistently sent Gandhi family members or their loyalists to the Lok Sabha, with the exception of the 2019 general election, when Rahul Gandhi was defeated by the BJP’s Smriti Irani.
Rahul Gandhi will be contesting from Rae Bareli Constituency, which was represented by his mother and former Congress president Sonia Gandhi since 2004.
In February this year, Sonia Gandhi chose to contest as a Rajya Sabha member, citing health and age issues. She was unanimously elected to the Upper House from Rajasthan.
