On the second day of his Gujarat campaign, PM Modi is scheduled to hold four rallies. Meanwhile, Sunita, wife of Kejriwal, will campaign for AAP candidates in Bharuch and Bhavnagar with roadshows.”
After a significant delay, the Congress is expected to announce its candidates for the traditional Nehru-Gandhi bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. There has been ongoing uncertainty among Congress leaders and workers regarding whether Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will contest from these seats.
The deadline for filing nominations in Amethi and Rae Bareli is Friday, with these seats going to polls in the fifth phase on May 20.
During a press conference on Wednesday, Jairam Ramesh, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary in charge of communications, stated that a decision regarding these seats would be made “in the next 24 hours.” He also mentioned that Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge would make the final decision, having been authorized by the Congress’s Central Election Committee (CEC) in this regard.
Although the Congress leadership desires both Rahul and Priyanka to contest and has not considered any other names, sources suggest that both seem hesitant to contest. Last-minute efforts are reportedly underway to persuade them to enter the fray, as reported by Manoj C G.
While a significant section of the party leadership believes that the Gandhis not contesting from the Hindi heartland would convey a negative political message, there’s also the concern that potentially havin
If Priyanka decides to contest, she will be the eighth member of the Nehru-Gandhi family to enter electoral politics representing the Congress party. For the first time, three members of the Gandhi family will be in Parliament if Priyanka and Rahul win their respective electoral battles. Rahul is contesting from Wayanad again in this election. Recently, their mother and Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson, Sonia Gandhi, was elected to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.
Some members within the Congress advocate for Priyanka to contest from Amethi against the current MP and Union minister, Smriti Irani, while suggesting Rahul should shift his constituency to Rae Bareli.
In the 2019 elections, Irani defeated Rahul in Amethi, although he won from his second constituency, Wayanad, in Kerala. Rahul had previously won the Amethi seat three times.
Continuing his Gujarat campaign for the second day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scheduled to visit four constituencies on Thursday to hold rallies: Anand, Surendranagar, Junagadh, and Jamnagar.
PM Modi is intensifying the BJP’s election campaign in Gujarat, his home state, where the party aims to replicate its performance in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls when it won all 26 seats. Gujarat is scheduled to go to polls on May 7 in the third phase of voting.
Meanwhile, other BJP national leaders are scheduled to visit various parts of the country for their campaign events on Thursday. Union Home Minister Amit Shah is in Uttar Pradesh, visiting the constituencies of Bareilly, Badaun, and Sitapur.
Defence Minister Rajnath Singh will be in Bihar, visiting Saran and Supaul. BJP national president J P Nadda is set to address two public rallies in Bihar (Araria and Muzaffarpur) and one in Madhya Pradesh (Vidisha) before heading to Gujarat (Mehsana).
Sunita Kejriwal’s Roadshows in Gujarat
Sunita Kejriwal, the wife of Delhi Chief Minister and AAP supremo Arvind Kejriwal, will campaign for the party’s candidates in Gujarat on Thursday.
AAP has fielded its candidates in Bharuch and Bhavnagar in Gujarat, contesting in an alliance with the INDIA bloc partner Congress. The Congress is contesting from the remaining 23 seats as part of their seat-sharing agreement, with the BJP candidate having already won the Surat seat unopposed.
“Sunita Kejriwal will join the party candidates in Bharuch and Bhavnagar for roadshows on Thursday,” the AAP announced in a statement. The AAP’s candidates for Bharuch and Bhavnagar are sitting MLAs Chaitar Vasava and Umesh Makwana, respectively.
With the Delhi CM currently in Tihar jail in connection with the liquor policy case, Sunita has taken charge of the AAP’s Lok Sabha poll campaign. Besides Gujarat, the AAP and the Congress have formed an alliance in Delhi and Haryana, while they are contesting against each other in Punjab.
The INDIA alliance faces an uphill task in Gujarat. While the AAP didn’t contest any seats in the state in 2019, all of its 24 candidates lost their deposits in the 2014 polls.
ALSO READ : Nitin Gadkari Faints During Maharashtra Rally Due To Heat, But Recovers Quickly: “I’m Fine Now”
Repolling will take place at one booth in the Ajmer Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday due to a misplaced register, announced Rajasthan Chief Electoral Officer Praveen Gupta. The constituency went to polls in the second phase on April 26.
