Chunav Flashback: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi's decision to contest Lok Sabha election from Wayanad in Kerala in 2019 in addition to the Gandhi family bastion Amethi in Uttar Pradesh evoked various responses back then. While the Congress justified the decision by saying that the move was to strengthen the three southern states of Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, political pundits are of the view that the move was a desperate attempt to save the face of the Congress leader who was losing Amethi.
However, Rahul Gandhi is not the first member of the family to go all the way down south to fight elections. In 1977, Indira Gandhi was defeated by Raj Narain in the Lok Sabha Elections in the Raebareli Constituency. It was then in 1978 when Indira Gandhi again contested the by-poll from Karnataka's Chikkamagaluru and won. This was an “ideal constituency” for her — 50 per cent women voters, 45 per cent backwards, scheduled castes and minorities, and nearly half the population living below the poverty line. Congress also coined a slogan for her "Ek sherni, sau langur Chikmagalur, Chikmagalur,” which did the charm.
In 1980, too Indira Gandhi contested from Medak in undivided Andra Pradesh (Now in Telangana) and from Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli. Observer said this time too she wasn't sure of her Raebareli win. She defeated S Jaipal Reddy, the firebrand Janata Party leader, who later joined the Congress. Indira gave up Raebareli and represented Medak till her assassination in 1984.
After Indira Gandhi, it was former Congress president Sonia Gandhi who fought from Bellary in 1999 along with Amethi seat. Congress decided to field her after the wariness of her Amethi seat. BJP fielded its heavyweight leader Sushma Swaraj, who put up a strong opposition to the Congress leader. She even managed to learn enough Kannada to address the voters in their native language in her rallies. However, Sonia Gandhi managed to win the seat but by a margin of just 7 per cent votes.
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