Mobilenews24x7 Bureau
Rahul Gandhi’s possible candidature from Amethi in 2024 has suddenly thrown up several questions. Why so?
And the stellar fight in the offing could be if Priyanka Gandhi Vadra takes on the PM Narendra Modi in Varanasi. If she decides so. Victory or loss is a question in the light of the humongous popularity Modi enjoys so far.
In a backdrop of the fact that Rahul had suffered a big defeat in his own bastion Amethi in 2019, against Smriti Irani by a massive 55,000 votes.
It was of course a prestige issue that Rahul lost by miles but the only face saving was his win Wayanad and became a MP.
Rai’s statements on Priyanka Gandhi come close on the heels of her husband and businessman Robert Vadra hinting that she could join electoral politics.
“She (Priyanka should be in Lok Sabha for sure. She has all the qualifications for it. She would be very good in Parliament and she deserves to be there. I hope that the Congress party accepts and plans better for her,” Vadra had told news agency PTI.
Will it be a tight-rope walk ?
Rahul has got gelled with the air of Amethi, a kind of bonding that he wants to restore, sources in Congress said.
The sense in the Congress is that if Gandhi doesn’t contest from Amethi, it would send a wrong signal that the party has given up on Uttar Pradesh. This is something that the party can’t afford as UP is essential if the party is to revive at the national level.
Another compulsion
Congress scion has a few reasons to feel morally boosted after Karnataka victory and then the mileage from the Bharat Jodo Jatra that made him closer to the ones who understand in a change. The minorities to be specific who realise where the shoe pinches on the price rise and cost of living.
The party must be thinking that if Rahul do not go back UP then the votes of the Congress may go in waste.
Also hypothetically, if there is a pre-poll alliance between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party for the Lok Sabha elections, the allocation of seats for the Grand Old Party would greatly depend on its ability to put forward strong candidates in specific seats.
