Today in Politics: Amid uncertainty over Rahul, Priyanka bids, Congress set to end Amethi, Rae Bareli suspense

On second day of his Gujarat campaign, PM Modi is holding four rallies; Kejriwal’s wife Sunita will also campaign in Gujarat, holding roadshows for AAP candidates in Bharuch and Bhavnagar

During a press conference Wednesday, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said a decision would be made regarding these seats “in the next 24 hours”.

After a long delay, the Congress is expected to finally announce its candidates for the traditional Nehru-Gandhi seats of Amethi and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. Uncertainty has continued to prevail among Congress leaders and workers alike as to whether Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would contest from these seats or not.

The deadline to file nominations for Amethi and Rae Bareli is on Friday. These seats are going to polls in the fifth phase on May 20.

During a press conference Wednesday, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said a decision would be made regarding these seats “in the next 24 hours”. He also said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge would take the call as he has been authorised by the Congress’s Central Election Committee (CEC) in this regard.

Though the Congress leadership wants both Rahul and Priyanka to contest and has not shortlisted any other names, sources claimed that both appear reluctant to contest, and last-minute efforts were said to be on to convince them to enter the fray, as reported by Manoj C G.

While a large section of the party leadership believes that the Gandhis not contesting from the Hindi heartland would send a negative political message, the perception of potentially three members of the Gandhi family being in Parliament could open up a line of attack from the BJP. The BJP has been slamming the Opposition INDIA bloc over “parivarvaad” (dynastic politics), often arguing that almost all the parties in the alliance are controlled by families.

A Congress section believes Priyanka should contest from Amethi against sitting MP and Union minister Smriti Irani and Rahul should move to Rae Bareli.

In the 2019 polls, Irani had defeated Rahul from Amethi, although he won from his second constituency, Wayanad, in Kerala. Rahul had won from the Amethi seat three times earlier.

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Priyanka, if she contests, will be the eighth member of the Nehru-Gandhi family to enter electoral politics from the Congress. And three members of the Gandhi family will be in Parliament for the first time if she – in case she contests – and Rahul win their respective electoral battles. Rahul is contesting from Wayanad again this time. Their mother and Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi has recently been elected to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.

Modi rallies in Gujarat

Continuing with his Gujarat campaign for the second day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is set to visit

four constituencies Thursday to hold rallies there, which include Anand, Surendranagar, Junagadh and Jamnagar.

PM Modi is ramping up the BJP’s electioneering in Gujarat, his home state, where the party is looking to repeat its performance in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls when it had won all 26 seats. The state is going to polls on May 7 in the third phase of voting.

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Meanwhile, other BJP national leaders would be visiting different parts of the country for their campaign events on Thursday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is in UP visiting the Bareilly, Badaun and Sitapur constituencies.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh would be in Bihar’s Saran and Supaul. BJP national president J P Nadda is going to address two public rallies in Bihar (Araria and Muzaffarpur) and one in Madhya Pradesh (Vidisha) before heading to Gujarat (Mehsana).

Sunita Kejriwal roadshows in Gujarat

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal will campaign for the party’s candidates in Gujarat on Thursday.

The AAP has fielded its candidates in Bharuch and Bhavnagar in Gujarat, contesting in an alliance with the INDIA bloc partner Congress, which is fighting from the remaining 23 seats (the BJP candidate has already won the Surat seat unopposed) as part of their seat-sharing agreement.

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“Sunita Kejriwal will participate in roadshows of the party candidates in Bharuch and Bhavnagar seats on Thursday,” the AAP said in a statement. The AAP’s candidates in Bharuch and Bhavnagar are sitting MLAs Chaitar Vasava and Umesh Makwana, respectively.

With the Delhi CM lodged in the Tihar jail in connection with the liquor policy case, Sunita has taken charge of the AAP’s Lok Sabha poll campaign. Besides Gujarat, the AAP and the Congress are in an alliance in Delhi and Haryana, although they are locking horns in Punjab.

It’s an uphill task for the INDIA alliance in Gujarat. While the AAP did not contest any seats in the state in 2019, all of its 24 candidates forfeited their deposits in the 2014 polls.

Repolling in Ajmer

Repolling will be held at one booth in the Ajmer Lok Sabha seat Thursday as a register got misplaced, according to Rajasthan Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta. Voting in the constituency was held in the second phase on April 26.

– With PTI inputs