New Delhi: As the suspense over Congress' pick for crucial Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seats continues, the grand old party on Wednesday asserted that "nobody is scared" and a decision on the matter would be announced on Thursday.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that party's central election committee (CEC) has empowered Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to finalise the candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli.
"My expectation is that in the next 24-30 hours, the Congress president will finalise and a decision taken by him will be announced," Ramesh said in response to a question at a press conference at the AICC headquarters here. "Till that is done all the information, all so-called office orders are fake," he said.
Asked why there is delay in taking a decision and if the Congress was "scared" in fielding Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, Ramesh said, "There is no delay. Has the BJP not announced its candidates in Raebareli? Smriti Irani is a sitting MP. Nobody is scared, discussions are ongoing, the Congress president has been authorized." "There is no delay, there is time till May 3," he said.
As reported by ETV Bharat on Tuesday, the Congress said party candidates will certainly file their nomination in the two high-profile seats by May 3. The suspense mounts amid intense speculation over the candidature of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi
Nominations for the two seats started on April 27 and will end on May 3. Polling will take place on May 20. There has been speculation that Rahul Gandhi will contest his traditional seat Amethi, which he represented from 2004 to 2019 while Priyanka Gandhi will fight from Rae Bareli to continue the legacy of her mother Sonia Gandhi, now a Rajya Sabha member.
“Our candidates will certainly file their nominations by May 3. All preparations have been done. Discussion over the candidates in the two seats is taking place within the CEC and an announcement will be made soon,” AICC in charge of UP Avinash Pande told ETV Bharat on Tuesday.
According to party insiders, at a recent CEC meeting chaired by party chief Mallikarjun Kharge, the UP in charge and CLP leader Aradhana Mishra were called to discuss the two seats. During the meeting, the two UP leaders reiterated that the voters and party workers in Amethi and Rae Bareli wanted only a Gandhi family member to contest the national polls. Finally, it was left for the Gandhi family to decide whether to contest or not.
As the Gandhis took time mulling over the issue, various scenarios were being discussed within the party circles in hush tones – Rahul may contest Amethi and Priyanka may not join the contest at all or Rahul may shift to Rae Bareli and Priyanka may fight from Amethi or persons close to the family might be fielded from the two seats.
While a section of Congress leaders said the party managers may have a plan B, in case the Gandhis refused to fight, former UP unit chief Brijlal Khabri said a scenario like that was highly unlikely. “I think the Gandhis only will contest from the two seats. The only thing to be decided is who picks up which seat. I don’t think another person will contest from there,” Khabri told ETV Bharat.
He said a little suspense around the candidates in the two key seats was okay. “The suspense is for good effect and will end soon. As soon as the names were announced, the local workers would get excited and start preparing for the polls with double energy. On the ground, the local leaders and workers have been working in the two seats over the past weeks. Announcement of names and filing of nomination papers can be done in a matter of hours,” said Khabri.
The senior leader slammed the BJP for questioning the delay and saying the Gandhis were running away from fighting the polls in UP. “The BJP can say anything but they are nervous after two rounds of polling. Their initial calculations in UP are going wrong and the Congress-SP alliance is doing well. Hence, they are worried and are targeting the Gandhis,” said Khabri.
According to AICC in charge Avinash Pande, soon after the nomination closes for the two seats on May 3, a Congress-SP coordination meeting will be held in Amethi and Sultanpur seats on May 4 to discuss joint campaigns among the workers of the two parties.
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