Rahul Gandhi invokes family ties with Amethi, says 'will do as people here wish'

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday invoked his familys long-standing association with Amethi while seeking to energise party workers ahead of the 2027 assembly elections, saying that the constituency was his home and family and that he would act according to the wishes of its people.Addressing Congress workers at Teji Pur village in Gauriganj, Gandhi said his relationship with Amethi was decades old and rooted in family ties.This is my home, my family and my karmabhoomi.

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday invoked his family's long-standing association with Amethi while seeking to energise party workers ahead of the 2027 assembly elections, saying that the constituency was his ''home and family'' and that he would act according to the wishes of its people.

Addressing Congress workers at Teji Pur village in Gauriganj, Gandhi said his relationship with Amethi was decades old and rooted in family ties.

''This is my home, my family and my karmabhoomi. Rajiv ji, Sonia ji, Priyanka ji and I have all been connected with Amethi. I have been an MP from here. Whatever you all ask me to do in future, I will do,'' he said.

Referring to the speech of Amethi MP Kishori Lal Sharma ahead of his address on Wednesday, Gandhi described it as emotional and reiterated that he would abide by the sentiments of the people of Amethi.

Sharma, in his address, said he considered himself merely a ''sevak'' and expressed the desire that Gandhi should again represent Amethi in Parliament. He said people across villages continued to have deep affection for the Gandhi family.

Gandhi has had a long political association with Amethi. Though he frequently visited the constituency with his father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi since childhood, he formally entered electoral politics from Amethi in 2004 and represented the seat in the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2019. He lost the 2019 Lok Sabha election from the constituency to BJP leader Smriti Irani.

The Congress faces a stiff challenge in Amethi ahead of the 2027 assembly elections. Of the five assembly segments in the Amethi parliamentary constituency -- Amethi, Gauriganj, Jagdishpur and Tiloi in Amethi district, and Salon in the neighbouring Raebareli district -- the Congress failed to win even a single seat in the 2022 assembly polls. Three seats had gone to the BJP and two to the Samajwadi Party.

While the Congress managed to regain the Amethi Lok Sabha seat in 2024 through Sharma, the party's overall organisational performance in the region has remained weak.

Gandhi on Wednesday also visited the residence of late former district Congress president Yogendra Mishra and expressed condolences to the bereaved family members.

Ahead of Gandhi's arrival, BJP Yuva Morcha workers staged a protest at the Gauriganj district headquarters, raising slogans against the Congress, Gandhi and Sharma while carrying posters and banners. Certain posters also took a swipe at Sharma, seeking accountability for his work since becoming the MP from Amethi.