New Delhi : The Congress is likely to deploy its strongest weapon Sonia Gandhi on May 17 or 18 to ensure a high victory margin for former party chief Rahul Gandhi who is contesting from the Raebareli seat in Uttar Pradesh.
“Sonia Gandhi is likely to visit Raebareli and Amethi on May 17 or 18 before the campaigning ends,” a senior AICC functionary said.
According to party insiders, Sonia Gandhi has not been campaigning in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls due to health reasons but is likely to canvas for Rahul in Raebareli and her close aide KL Sharma, the party’s nominee in Amethi to ensure a high victory margin for the two leaders.
The party insiders further said that either Sonia Gandhi may attend the INDIA bloc rallies in Amethi and Rae Bareli to be addressed by Rahul Gandhi and SP leader Akhilesh Yadav on May 17 or she may make a separate visit on May 18.
UP is the home state of the Nehru-Gandhi family and the two key seats Raebareli and Amethi that fall under the Avadh region have been traditional strongholds of the Congress party.
Sonia Gandhi represented Rae Bareli in the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2024 while her son Rahul Gandhi represented the neighbouring seat Amethi in the House from 2004 to 2019. Earlier, former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi also represented either of the two seats in the House.
In 2019, Rahul had lost Amethi but won from Wayanad seat in Kerala with a record margin. In 2024, he again chose to contest from Wayanad but also decided to fight from Rae Bareli in order to keep the family legacy as well as to boost the party’s prospects in the crucial state.
Both Rahul and Priyanka recently drew heavily on their family’s 100-year-old links with Amethi and Rae Bareli saying their doors would always remain open for the locals while the Congress released a video in which Sonia and Rahul were seen going down memory lane while turning the pages of a family album together.
Sonia is now a Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan. Despite her ill health, she recently attended an opposition rally in Delhi on March 31 and later attended Rahul Gandhi’s nomination in Rae Bareli on May 3 along with daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
“No doubt she is a fighter and a very popular figure. Her appeal in Telangana propelled the party to power. The voters of Rae Bareli have trusted her over the past two decades and when she vacated the seat, she made an emotional appeal via a letter urging the voters to always support her family members as they did in the past,” AICC in charge of UP Avinash Pande told ETV Bharat.
While the party managers are awaiting a visit from Sonia Gandhi, they are leaving no stone unturned to woo the electorate in the two key seats. Priyanka Gandhi has been conducting an aggressive campaign across the two seats and has addressed around 100 corner meetings over the past seven days.
Besides, senior leaders like AICC in charge of organization KC Venugopal, former chief ministers Bhupesh Baghel and Ashok Gehlot and CWC members Sachin Pilot and Rajeev Shukla are also busy seeking votes for the party candidates.
Baghel had been telling the locals of Rae Bareli that they were not only voting for their MP but also the next prime minister. On May 15, Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge also addressed rallies in the two key seats.
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