Amethi Lok Sabha Election 2024 Rahul Gandhi vs Smriti Irani likely in Amethi

Rahul Gandhi is likely to enter the fray from his former bastion Amethi for the Lok Sabha elections and is expected to file his nomination on May 2, sources told India Today TV. THE final decision will be taken after April 26 even though Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai said the Amethi seat has been confirmed by the Gandhi family.

The filing of the nomination papers for the election to the Amethi Lok Sabha seat starts on April 26 and will continue until May 3. Voting will take place on May 20.

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The BJP has declared Smriti Irani as its candidate from Amethi for the third time.

In the 2019 general election, Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi from the Amethi seat by a margin of more than 50,000 votes. The Union Minister, this time too, poses a big challenge for the Congress to retain its erstwhile bastion.

Although Amethi has been considered the stronghold of Congress and the Gandhi family, it has been in the news since the first election after independence, when it was known as Sultanpur South. Balkrishna Vishwanat Keshkar became the first MP from the seat.

Later, in 1957, the seat became a part of the Musafir Khana Lok Sabha seat and Keshkar won again from there.

Raja Rananjay Singh took over as the MP in the next election, when he was defeated by Ravindra Pratap Singh in 1977.

The 1980 elections saw the rise of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s son, Sanjay Gandhi, from the Amethi seat. However, the seat was taken over by Indira Gandhi’s other son and former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, after Sanjay died in a plane crash the same year on June 23.

After Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1991, his wife Sonia Gandhi took the poll plunge in 1999 and won the seat.

In 2004, their son, Rahul Gandhi, entered the fray in Amethi. He remained an MP from the seat until 2019, when he was defeated by Irani.

Overall, Congress has won this seat 16 times.

RAHUL GANDHI’S RISE AND FALL IN AMETHI

Rahul Gandhi contested his first election from Amethi in 2004, at the age of 33, as Sonia Gandhi moved to Rae Bareli the same year.

He defeated BSP candidate Chandra Prakash Mishra by a margin of 2,90,853 votes.

In the next elections in 2009, he received 32.42 per cent of the total votes in Amethi and defeated BSP’s Ashish Shukla.

The year 2014 saw a significant fall in Rahul’s victory margin when the BJP fielded Smriti Irani against him. He defeated Irani by almost a lakh votes.

In the 2019 elections, Smriti Irani defeated Gandhi by a margin of 55,120 votes.

WHAT NEXT FOR AMETHI?

Now, the Congress unit is preparing for the return of Rahul Gandhi to Amethi. A tough fight is expected as the sentiments of the people are believed to be divided between the Gandhi family and Irani’s consistent work.

Speaking to India Today TV, Uttar Pradesh’s Congress chief Ajay Rai said nobody can take away the pride of Amethi and alleged that Smriti Rani had been lying for the past 10 years.

He said the challenge for the BJP was to re-acquire the seat on their false promises.

Speaking to India Today TV, Ramesh Lal, a resident of Amethi’s Jagdishpur town, said the seat has always been known for the Gandhis.

Another resident, 24-year-old Kishan Kumar, said Irani has been active in the area and has worked throughout. He was confident that the voters would vote on the issue of development and its prospects.