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The Congress finally declared its candidates for the Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituencies of Uttar Pradesh after weeks of suspense. Rahul Gandhi has been fielded from Rae Bareli while Kishori Lal Sharma will be contesting from Amethi.
Both candidates will file their papers today — the last day for filing nominations for the fifth phase of election on May 20. Kishori Lal Sharma is one of the closest loyalists of the Gandhi family. He was Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi’s representative in the constituencies.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, its current chief Mallikarjun Kharge, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be in Rae Bareli during the nomination filing, the party said.
Hours after the Congress ended the suspense on its Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha candidates, the BJP launched a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi, claiming his political reign in his family strongholds will end like the last Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah Zafar.
Union minister and BJP leader Giriraj Singh said today that Rahul Gandhi would have to leave Rae Bareli as well. “The Gandhi family never goes back to the seat from where it lost. Rahul Gandhi lost Amethi and he left it. This time if he loses Raebareli too, he will leave that too. Just like Bahadur Shah Zafar was the last emperor of the Mughal Sultanate, Raebareli is the same for the Gandhi family,” he told ANI.
Deliberations had been on in the party since Thursday on the names of the contenders for the two seats, which have been traditionally held by the members of the Gandhi-Nehru family. The BJP had on Thursday announced Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate from Rae Bareli. He had lost to Sonia Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
Posters and banners of Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav were also brought late last evening to the Congress office in Gauriganj.
BJP leader Smriti Irani has already filed her nomination papers from Amethi.
