Express News Service
LUCKNOW: With the return of Congress’s Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi to Parliament after a gap of 137 days following the SC’s on his sentence in a defamation case, both the Congress and ruling BJP are set to remodel their strategy for Amethi and Rae Bareli ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
At present, only Sonia Gandhi, the former Congress chief, holds the Congress flag in Lok Sabha from UP by representing Rae Bareli in the lower house of Parliament.
Till the 2019 general election, Congress had two MPs – Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli and Rahul Gandhi from Amethi—but in 2019 while Sonia retained Rae Bareli, Rahul lost Amethi to BJP’s Smriti Irani.
However, with the return of Rahul Gandhi to Parliament, not only the buoyant Congressmen have become hopeful of him trying his luck again from Amethi in 2024 but the BJP also weighing the possibility and draw its strategy afresh for Amethi.
The confidence of Congressmen over the prospect of Rahul recontesting from Amethi was manifested when the jubilant party workers in Amethi cut a 51-kilogram laddoo, burst crackers and distributed sweets among the masses to celebrate stay on Rahul Gandhi’s sentence by the apex court.
ALSO READ | Rahul attends Lok Sabha, accorded warm welcome by Congress, Opposition MPs on arrival
According to the party’s former MLC Deepak Singh, the way the people of Amethi celebrated stay on Rahul Gandhi’s sentence, they are assured that he would return to Amethi to contest in 2024. “The mood of the people of Amethi says it all,” said Deepak Singh.
Moreover, a delegation of UP Congress leaders was expected to meet Rahul Gandhi in Delhi after the monsoon session of Parliament to urge him to contest from Amethi in 2024, said Singh.
On the other, the UP minister of state for Sports and minister in charge of Amethi, Girish Yadav holds a contrarian view.
“As the minister in charge of Amethi, I am well aware of the people’s mood. They know how things have changed in Amethi ever since BJP won. Union minister Smriti Irani, the local MP of Amethi, has done so much for the people that irrespective of the rival candidate against her, it will be a no-contest,” said Yadav.
With the 2024 Lok Sabha polls less than a year away, Union Minister Smriti Irani has stepped up her visits. Between June and August alone, she spent more than 50 days in her constituency. She was in Amethi again on Sunday to launch the campaign for the redevelopment of 508 railway stations across the country. Fifty-five of these, including Amethi and Rae Bareli railway stations, are in Uttar Pradesh.
LUCKNOW: With the return of Congress’s Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi to Parliament after a gap of 137 days following the SC’s on his sentence in a defamation case, both the Congress and ruling BJP are set to remodel their strategy for Amethi and Rae Bareli ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
At present, only Sonia Gandhi, the former Congress chief, holds the Congress flag in Lok Sabha from UP by representing Rae Bareli in the lower house of Parliament.
Till the 2019 general election, Congress had two MPs – Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli and Rahul Gandhi from Amethi—but in 2019 while Sonia retained Rae Bareli, Rahul lost Amethi to BJP’s Smriti Irani.googletag.cmd.push(function() {googletag.display(‘div-gpt-ad-8052921-2’); });
However, with the return of Rahul Gandhi to Parliament, not only the buoyant Congressmen have become hopeful of him trying his luck again from Amethi in 2024 but the BJP also weighing the possibility and draw its strategy afresh for Amethi.
The confidence of Congressmen over the prospect of Rahul recontesting from Amethi was manifested when the jubilant party workers in Amethi cut a 51-kilogram laddoo, burst crackers and distributed sweets among the masses to celebrate stay on Rahul Gandhi’s sentence by the apex court.
ALSO READ | Rahul attends Lok Sabha, accorded warm welcome by Congress, Opposition MPs on arrival
According to the party’s former MLC Deepak Singh, the way the people of Amethi celebrated stay on Rahul Gandhi’s sentence, they are assured that he would return to Amethi to contest in 2024. “The mood of the people of Amethi says it all,” said Deepak Singh.
Moreover, a delegation of UP Congress leaders was expected to meet Rahul Gandhi in Delhi after the monsoon session of Parliament to urge him to contest from Amethi in 2024, said Singh.
On the other, the UP minister of state for Sports and minister in charge of Amethi, Girish Yadav holds a contrarian view.
“As the minister in charge of Amethi, I am well aware of the people’s mood. They know how things have changed in Amethi ever since BJP won. Union minister Smriti Irani, the local MP of Amethi, has done so much for the people that irrespective of the rival candidate against her, it will be a no-contest,” said Yadav.
With the 2024 Lok Sabha polls less than a year away, Union Minister Smriti Irani has stepped up her visits. Between June and August alone, she spent more than 50 days in her constituency. She was in Amethi again on Sunday to launch the campaign for the redevelopment of 508 railway stations across the country. Fifty-five of these, including Amethi and Rae Bareli railway stations, are in Uttar Pradesh.
