"Contesting on two seats is not uncommon," Jairam Ramesh on Rahul Gandhi contesting from Wayanad, Raebareli

Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications, Jairam Ramesh on Friday asserted that contesting elections on multiple seats is common in politics and challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contest elections from one of the seats of South.

Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications, Jairam Ramesh on Friday asserted that contesting elections on multiple seats is common in politics and challenged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to contest elections from one of the seats of South. Speaking to ANI, Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications said that the people of Raebareli want to give a mandate to Rahul Gandhi.

"Atal Bihari Vajpayee has contested on two seats. Lal Krishna Advani has contested on two seats. Sushma Swaraj contested on two seats. Narendra Modi himself contested on two seats. So contesting on two seats is not uncommon. Rahul Gandhi contested in the south and he is also contesting in the north. We challenge the Prime Minister, let him pick any seat in the south and contest. In any case, Raebareli is a responsibility. It has been a seat which has been held by Sonia Gandhi. The people of Raebareli want to give a mandate to Rahul Gandhi. That is why, he has chosen to contest from Raebareli," he said. Jairam Ramesh reacted to the Prime Minister's attack on party leader Rahul Gandhi for the silence on attacks on Adani and Ambani that had been going on for years and said that now the PM is attacking his friends.

"On 8th November 2016, the Prime Minister announced demonetization. Why was it done? To remove black money from circulation and now the same PM is saying that Adani-Ambani, his two closest business friends, are giving black money to the Congress party. So, what is the ED, and CBI doing? They are putting CMs in jail but they are allowing industrialists to give black money to the Congress party. Why is the ED not taking action? That means demonetization was a complete disaster, a complete failure. Industrialists still have black money to give to political parties. So, I think this is an extraordinary statement and the biggest beneficiaries of Mr Modi's economic policies in the last 10 years - Adani and Ambani," he said. "Today in the last 10 years 21 groups, 21 big 'crorepatis' control as much wealth as 70 crore Indians. This is a direct result of Mr Modi's economic policies. All Ports and Airports have been sold to Adani. Railways have been privatized. Where is this black money coming from? From privatization. So, I think this shows that the PM is very nervous. He is very disturbed and he is attacking even his closest friends," he said.

Raebareli constituency goes to the polls on May 20. In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi won the constituency, bagging 534,918 votes. Her closest rival, Dinesh Pratap Singh, put up a formidable challenge, gathering 367,740 votes. Before Sonia, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had won Raebareli thrice. The constituency also elected Indira's husband and Congress leader Feroze Gandhi twice, in 1952 and 1957.

Rahul Gandhi is a sitting MP in Kerala's Wayanad, where he is seeking a fresh term alongside Raebareli. Rahul represented Amethi from 2004 until 2019. He will face Congress defector and three-time MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh in Raebareli. (ANI)

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