Rahul Gandhi vs Smriti Irani likely in Amethi, Priyanka may enter poll fray from Raebareli: Sources

File photo of Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi may contest the Lok Sabha elections from Amethi after polling concludes in Kerala's Wayanad on Friday, News18 has reported quoting party sources.

Moreover, the grand old party may field his sister Priyanka Gandhi from Raebareli, the seat vacated by their mother Sonia Gandhi earlier this year after she entered the Rajya Sabha.

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According to sources, the final decision for the two Uttar Pradesh constituencies will be taken after April 26 and nominations are likely to be filed next week.

Rahul is contesting from Wayanad, which goes to polls in the second phase on Friday. He won the seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections even though he faced defeat in his own bastion of Amethi at the hands of BJP's Smriti Irani.

Former MLC and Congress leader Deepak Singh told ANI that Rahul will come to Amethi on April 26.

" ... all of us believe that Rahul Gandhi will come at a 'shubh muhurat', he will come on time. This time, he will win in Amethi, become an MP and the Prime Minister of India. He will make the record of winning from Amethi with the highest number of votes," he said.

Rahul vs Smriti redux?

Congress has so far kept suspense on its candidates for both Amethi and Raebareli, leading to speculations over the Gandhi family's plan for their traditional strongholds.

A section of Congress workers even suggested that Robert Vadra, Priyanka Gandhi's husband, should contest from Amethi in case Rahul decides to stick with just Wayanad.

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Vadra himself claimed that people within the party wanted him to fight from Amethi.

However, a potential Smriti Irani vs Rahul Gandhi rematch will be a high-stakes battle of prestige that can define the poll narrative for Congress and BJP.

Smriti Irani, who defeated Rahul by a margin of 55,120 votes, has been openly challenging the Congress leader to contest against her again. From accusing Rahul of "running away" from Amethi to saying that he hardly did any development in the region in the last 15 years, Irani has gone all out to deride and discredit the Congress leader over the last few months.

Rahul has mostly maintained silence on these attacks. Even when his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra passed through Amethi, Rahul chose to talk about larger issues like caste census and India-China tensions instead of directly targeting Smriti.

In case he does challenge Smriti in 2024, Rahul will have to overcome a battle of perception that has been created by his opponents over the last 5 years.

Much-ancitipated debut

Meanwhile, the clamour for Priyanka Gandhi to enter the poll fray has been gathering steam since February this year when Sonia decided to bring curtains down on her Lok Sabha stint.

In 2019 too, there were strong rumours that Congress may field Priyanka against PM Modi from Varanasi. However, the grand old party opted to go with Ajay Rai.

Raebareli has been a Congress bastion since 1960 with both Feroze Gandhi and Indira Gandhi having represented it.

Sonia Gandhi represented the constituency from 2004 to 2024.