#LokSabhaElections2024 : Amethi – The Enigmatic Seat

Every time the Lok Sabha elections are held, two seats, Amethi and Rae Bareli never cease to attract attention. For these two seats have been primarily held by the first political family of India, the Gandhi family. Though, the BJP MP from Amethi, Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi from Amethi in 2019 general elections with a comfortable margin, there’s a lot of buzz as to who would represent Amethi from Congress.

The filing of the nomination papers for the election to the Amethi Lok Sabha seat starts on April 26 and will continue till May 3. Voting will take place on May 20.

In a surprising move, Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi are likely to contest the Lok Sabha election from Rae Bareli and Amethi seats, respectively. Earlier, posters featuring Robert Vadra, husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, appeared outside the party’s office in the Gauriganj area of Amethi. This raised speculations of a possible ticket for Vadra. However, the Congress appears to be wanting to put up a fight for every seat that it is contesting and has thus decided on fielding the Gandhi sibling.

The BJP has declared Smriti Irani as its candidate from Amethi for the third time. Irani defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi, with a margin of more than 50,000 votes.
Though Amethi has been considered the stronghold of Congress and the Gandhi family, it has been in the news since the first election after independence, when it was known as Sultanpur South. Balkrishna Vishwanat Keshkar became the first MP from the seat.

The 1980 elections saw the rise of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s son, Sanjay Gandhi, from the Amethi seat. However, the seat was taken over by Indira Gandhi’s other son and former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, after Sanjay died in a plane crash the same year on June 23.

After Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated in 1991, his wife Sonia Gandhi took the poll plunge in 1999 and won the seat. In 2004, their son, Rahul Gandhi, entered the fray in Amethi. He remained an MP from the seat until 2019, when he was defeated by Irani. Overall, Congress has won this seat 16 times.
Now, the Congress unit is preparing for the return of Rahul Gandhi to Amethi. A tough fight is expected as the sentiments of the people are believed to be divided between the Gandhi family and Irani’s consistent work.

Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituencies will vote in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 20. However, Rahul Gandhi will not find the going easy in his erstwhile bastion as Union Minister Smriti Irani has been campaigning extensively in the constituency.

In a news conference, Irani said, “BJP workers know that the Gandhi family will come to contest elections from Amethi. PM Narendra Modi sends ration to 19 lakh citizens in Amethi Lok Sabha constituency, if the Gandhi family is against Narendra Modi, so these 19 lakh citizens who are getting free ration, what will the Gandhi family say to these families?… I went to Wayanad a few days ago and got the information that Rahul Gandhi has declared Wayanad as his family…Yesterday a Congress leader said that Rahul Gandhi chose Wayanad because Rahul Gandhi says that the people of Wayanad are more loyal. So what about the loyalty of Amethi.”

With Sonia moving to the upper house, the Congress is likely to field Priyanka Gandhi from Rae Bareli. Certainly, the fight will be interesting, If Rahul Gandhi choses to fight from Amethi.