Amid the Lok Sabha Elections 2024, the Congress Party announced its candidates for the hotly contested Raebareli and Amethi parliamentary seats on Friday. The party has fielded senior leader and former party president Rahul Gandhi from the Raebareli seat, while in a surprising move, the party has picked another loyalist, Kishori Lal Sharma, as a candidate against the BJP's Smriti Irani from Amethi. Both leaders will file their nominations today in the presence of senior party stalwarts.
Ahead of the nomination filing procedure, the Congress candidate from Amethi, speaking to the media, expressed gratitude to the Congress leadership, saying they have given a chance to fight the election to a 'small worker'.
"I am grateful to the party, Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi, who have given a chance to fight the election to a small worker. Rahul Gandhi was involved in decision-making," Sharma said.
In another statement, he said, "I will work very hard... Rahul Gandhi is not someone who runs away from the ground. No one can predict anything about votes. I will meet Priyanka Gandhi today."
Moreover, ever since the news got public, there have been a series of reactions (within the party) and counter-reactions from the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). However, ahead of the filing of nominations, senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra heaped praise on the party candidate from Amethi. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the senior party leader said, 'Kishori Lal Ji's loyalty and dedication towards duty will definitely bring him success in this election'.
"Our family has had a long association with Kishori Lal Sharma ji. He has always been dedicated to serving the people of Amethi and Raebareli. His passion for public service is an example in and of itself. It is a matter of joy that the Congress Party has made Shri Kishori Lal Ji a candidate from Amethi. Kishori Lal Ji's loyalty and dedication towards duty will definitely bring him success in these elections," the Congress leader said.
Congress has given up on Amethi
Ever since the Congress party made an announcement earlier this morning, the BJP has held a scathing attack on Rahul Gandhi. Taking a dig at Gandhi's 'Daro Mat' slogan, several BJP leaders targeted Gandhi, saying, "Rahulji, you said 'Daro Mat' and now you are saying 'Amethi se Lado mat'.
Speaking on Congress MP Rahul Gandhi's candidacy from Raebareli, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla says, "Rahulji, you said 'Daro Mat' and now you are saying 'Amethi se Lado mat'. The Congress has confirmed that they have surrendered and have run away from Amethi. After defrauding Amethi for so many years, they went to Wayanad. They are defrauding Wayanad also. They are doing 'use and throw' with Wayanad... They have chosen what they feel is a safer seat in Raebareli. 80/80 will be the scorecard for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh and 400+ for the NDA across the country. KL Sharma's first priceless reaction says everything. He feels like he has been made a scapegoat. I feel bad for Robert Vadra. He tried hard but did not get a chance."
Union Minister and BJP Hamirpur candidate Anurag Thakur too attacked Rahul Gandhi. He said, "Sometimes back, Rahul Gandhi used to say 'daro mat, daro mat' (don't be scared); now, due to fear, from Amethi to Wayanad and Wayanad to Raebareli, this indicates his scaredness towards defeat taking him everywhere... He was not able to serve justice to his sister (Priyanka Gandhi Vadra), as on one side, Robert Vadra was also asking for tickets, and on the other side, the party's demand was for Priyanka Gandhi; however, her name was not mentioned in the party's list, which shows something is going on within the Congress party."
READ MORE | Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Rahul Gandhi to contest from Rae Bareli, Sonia's loyalist KL Sharma from Amethi
