Why Rahul Gandhi goes with Raebareli, and Priyanka not in the picture

The announcement came on the last day of filing nominations for the two seats, which go to polls on May 20.

In Amethi, the party fielded Kishori Lal Sharma, an influential representative of the Nehru-Gandhi family in the two seats for over two decades.

Rahul filed his nomination papers accompanied by not just mother Sonia Gandhi (the sitting MP from Rae Bareli), sister Priyanka and brother-in-law Robert Vadra, but also several top Congress leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge, K C Venugopal, and former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot.

The administration tried to make sure that the paths of BJP candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh and Rahul did not cross at the district collectorate at the time of nomination filing. However, Rahul’s cavalcade had to face heckling by BJP workers.

While both Rahul and Sonia avoided questions, Priyanka, who also accompanied Sharma for his nomination filing and participated in a road show for him, said she would be camping and campaigning in the two seats from May 6 till when elections get over on May 20.

After Rahul filed his nomination papers, the family performed prayers at the Congress district office, a ritual started by Sonia.

In her address at Amethi, Priyanka described Sharma’s nomination as an example of “sewa ki rajneeti (the politics of service)” for the country. In a message meant for disappointed Congress workers, who had been sitting in protest for the past three days demanding that a Gandhi family member contest from Amethi, Priyanka talked about how Sharma had worked for 40 years in the region and knew it inside out. She said she would stand with him shoulder to shoulder, and requested Congress supporters to do the same.

Vowing to campaign for both Rahul and Sharma, Priyanka said: “Yeh log chunav ko dhan bal pe ladte hain, hum janta ke bal par ladenge (The BJP fights elections on the basis of money power, we will fight on the basis of people’s power).”

It will be after 25 years that no Gandhi will be in the fray from Amethi. Sonia made her electoral debut from here back in 1999, a year after she took over as Congress president. In 2004, she shifted to Rae Bareli, making way for Rahul to make his electoral debut from the seat.

According to party leaders, the main reason behind Rahul shifting to Rae Bareli is that Amethi is no longer a family seat after the 2019 loss. Plus, should Rahul win from both Wayanad (the other seat he is contesting from, which voted on April 26) and Rae Bareli, it will be easier to give up the Kerala constituency citing the family’s even longer connection with Rae Bareli, plus that of Sonia personally.

In Amethi, there is, of course, the unsaid fear of losing again. However, the BJP was quick on the draw saying Rahul’s decision to not contest from the seat showed he had “fled” from Irani. Hours after the Congress decision became known, Irani said, “Jo Amethi chorh kar Waynad chale gaye, woh Rae Bareli ke nahin ho payenge. Unhone Wayenad mein kaha ki woh unka parivar hai, toh aaj Rae Bareli mein kya kahenge (The one who left Amethi for Wayanad, can’t belong to Rae Bareli. He told the people of Wayanad they were his family. What will he say here)?”

Rahul and Priyanka were initially said to be reluctant to enter the fray. Rahul argued that he could not leave Wayanad in the event of winning Rae Bareli, if the Kerala seat voted for him a second time.

There was also the apprehension about the impact this could have on the Congress’s chances in the 2026 Assembly elections in Kerala.

Priyanka was then asked to contest, but she declined. Rahul finally gave in, sources said, in deference to the overwhelming view in the party that the Gandhis not contesting from the Hindi heartland would send a bad political message.

The BJP’s Rae Bareli candidate, Uttar Pradesh minister Dinesh Pratap Singh, had contested from the seat in 2019 too. While he lost to Sonia, he had managed to halve her majority from 2014.

One reason that the Congress didn’t want both Priyanka and Rahul to contest is that, with Sonia already a Rajya Sabha member, having three members in Parliament in case both Rahul and Priyanka won, would give the BJP an opportunity to sharpen its dynasty line of attack against the Congress.

Rahul’s entry into the Wayanad fray from 2019 had helped the Congress sweep the Lok Sabha elections in Kerala. However, in the Assembly, the party suffered a defeat, with the CPI(M)-led LDF creating history by securing a consecutive second term in office, bucking Kerala’s political trend of changing governments every five years. The 2026 Assembly elections are hence critical for the Congress.

Since Independence, the Congress has lost Amethi and Rae Bareli – represented by other members of the family such as Indira, Rajiv, Sanjay too — only thrice each.