Priyanka Gandhi to camp in Rae Bareli-Amethi from Monday, as Congress aims to wrest family bastions

By Siddharth Sharma
Rai Bareli (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 5 : Amethi and Rae Bareli -- two constituencies considered old turfs of the Gandhi family has again become the point of focus as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has entered the fray in Rae Bareli and family's close aide Kishori Lal Sharma has been fielded against Smriti Irani in Amethi.
Meanwhile, All India Congress Committee General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has always been active in the above constituencies through back room to front campaign, will be camping here from Monday onwards and will be leading the poll front from strategy, management and campaign, a senior functionary of the party told ANI.
There were speculations regarding Priyanka Gandhi too contesting the elections from Rae Bareli or some other seat, but all the speculations were laid to rest when the party announced the name of the two candidates.
Priyanka will landing at Fursatganj Airport late on Monday evening, following which she will take part in a series of activities. A full proof road map has been chalked out under which; a target of more than 250 meetings in different villages and remote areas of both the constituencies has been set along with the other road shows, public meetings, interaction with civil society members and representatives of different associations.
Additionally, she will be interacting with the party members till the BLAs (Booth Level Agents) on regular basis. The members of the war room and campaign management team will be reporting to her and a daily review will be done, the source added.
Speaking to ANI Congress Candidate KL Sharma said, "Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will reach Rae Bareli on May 6 and take Charge of the Election Management."
Rae Bareli District Congress President, Pankaj Tiwari said that a meeting of Congress workers has been called on Monday evening which will be addressed by Priyanka Gandhi. He added that Congress party is confident of winning the seat with a record margin.
Sonia Gandhi contested the 2019 general elections from Rae Bareli and defeated Bharatiya Janata Party's Dinesh Pratap Singh by a margin of over 1.6 lakh votes, however her victory margin came down by 13 per cent as compared to 2014.
In Amethi, Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi by 55,000 votes ending Gandhi family's stint on the seat.
Congress had won just 2 seats in Uttar Pradesh in 2014 (Rae Bareli and Amethi). The tally came down to just one in 2019 after party lost Amethi.
This time, Rahul Gandhi will be seeking to maintain the lone standing family legacy seat in the state, while Kishori Lal Sharma is up against the challenge of Smriti Irani.
Sonia Gandhi won Rae Bareli for four successive terms before she moved to Rajya Sabha this time.
The party, while aiming to register a strong comeback after two historic losses in 2014 and 2019 has a tough task in hand to wrest back Amethi and retain Rae Bareli. But, it is pertinent to note that in 2022 Assembly elections in the state, Congress couldn't win any assembly seat under Rae Bareli, which shows the task, which means the task in hand, will be anything but easy