Raebareli Lok Sabha Constituency: Rahul Gandhi to take on BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh at Congress' bastion

Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh is one of the hotly contested seats, as it has been the stronghold of the Gandhi family and this time Congress has fielded Rahul Gandhi to contest against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dinesh Pratap Singh.

Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh is one of the hotly contested seats, as it has been the stronghold of the Gandhi family and this time Congress has fielded Rahul Gandhi to contest against Bharatiya Janata Party leader Dinesh Pratap Singh. After representing Amethi from 2004 to 2019, Rahul Gandhi has shifted to Rae Bareli this time. Raebareli is considered the Gandhi family bastion. Sonia Gandhi, the then Congress chief, won Raebareli last time in 2019.

The BJP has fielded state minister Dinesh Pratap Singh against Rahul Gandhi, who has also contested from Wayanad in Kerala, while BSP has fielded Thakur Prasad Yadav. Raebareli, the most-watched seat in the fifth phase, will go to the polls on May 20. The results will be announced on June 4.

The Raebareli Lok Sabha Constituency comprises five Assembly segments, including Bachhrawan, Harchandpur, Raebareli, Sareni, and Unchahar. The constituency is a general seat. This time, instead of Sonia Gandhi, Congress has pitted Rahul Gandhi, who will be up against BJP candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh, who was also a three-time MLA. The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded Thakur Prasad Yadav for this seat.

Dinesh Pratap Singh has won the Vidhan Sabha elections of Uttar Pradesh three times, twice on a Congress ticket (2010 and 2016) and once on a BJP ticket (2022). Singh was in Congress earlier and in 2018, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party. Despite his defeat to Sonia Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, he secured a significant 38 per cent of the total votes, marking the highest tally received by any BJP candidate in the constituency.

Earlier, the BJP candidate from Raebareli took a dig at Rahul Gandhi and said that the Congress leader has sent his peon to contest from Amethi against the BJP's Smriti Irani. "Does Rahul Gandhi really want to win Amethi and Raebareli? If he really wanted to win Amethi, why would he give a Lok Sabha ticket to his peon from Amethi? Rahul Gandhi will lose both Raebareli and Amethi seats," he said.

Raebareli has traditionally been Congress' bastion. Singh had lost to Sonia Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. The Raebareli constituency was represented by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi from 2004 to 2024. Prior to that, Sonia Gandhi had represented the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency after she entered politics and contested for the first time in 1999.

After the former Congress chief announced that she would not be contesting the Lok Sabha elections in 2024, the suspense was on the corner that who would fight the elections from Congress. Ending the speculations, Congress finally announced that Sonia Gandhi's son Rahul Gandhi. Notably, Rahul is a sitting MP from Kerela's Wayanad seat and is also contesting in 2024 from the same.

On May 17, in her first public address in the ongoing election campaign for the Lok Sabha polls, Congress leader and AICC President Sonia Gandhi urged the people of Raebarelli to accept his son Rahul Gandhi just like the way they accepted her while assuring that "he won't disappoint them". This was Sonia Gandhi's first public address in Raebareli, her erstwhile constituency in a long time, and she recalled the 'age-old' roots of the Gandhi family with the people of the constituency. Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were also present alongside her during her address.

"I am very happy that I got the opportunity to come among you after so long...You all gave me the opportunity to serve you as an MP, this is the biggest treasure of my life. For the last 100 years, the roots of our family are connected to the soil of this land. This relationship is as pure as Ganga Maa. It started with the farmer's agitation of Awadh and Raebareli," Sonia Gandhi said addressing the public meeting. "In Indira Ji's heart, there was a special place for Raebareli. I have seen her work very closely, she had immense affection for you all. I have given the same teachings to Rahul and Priyanka, that Indira Ji and the people of Raebareli had bestowed upon me; respect all, protect the weak, fight for people's rights against injustice, don't be sacred, because the roots of struggle is very strong," Sonia Gandhi said.

"My aanchal (end of a saari, also refers to protective shelter) was always filled with your love and affection. Your love never made me feel alone Everything I have is yours...I am handing over my son to you. You have to accept him and keep him, just like you accepted me. Rahul will not disappoint you," the Congress leader said while making an emotional appeal to the people to accept her son. Sonia Gandhi held the seat for four consecutive terms since 2004, before she took the Rajya Sabha route to the Parliament this year.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Sonia Gandhi won the seat with a margin of 167,178 votes. Sonia Gandhi got 534,918 votes with a vote share of 55.08 per cent and defeated Dinesh Pratap Singh from BJP who got 367,740 votes (38.4 per cent). In the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, Sonia Gandhi won the seat and was polled 526,434 votes with a vote share of 63.80 per cent. BJP candidate Ajay Agrawal got 173,721 votes with 21.05 per cent voters.

Polling for 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh is being held across all seven phases. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4. (ANI)

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