Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, accompanied by AICC National Chief Mallikarjun Kharge, embarked on a special flight from Begumpet airport in Hyderabad to Uttar Pradesh on Friday, May 3rd, to partake in the nomination proceedings of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who has been nominated by the party from Rae Bareli.
Former Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are also scheduled to be present in Rae Bareli during the nomination filing, as announced by the party. Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, has been nominated from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat, as per the party’s statement on Friday. Sharma, entrusted with the responsibility of overseeing the two prestigious constituencies in the absence of the Gandhis, will file nomination papers along with Rahul Gandhi on Friday, which marks the final day for nomination filing for the seats.
Both seats are slated for polls on May 20th, during the fifth phase of the seven-phase general election. The party disclosed the candidates for the two seats after days of deliberations, which had commenced on Thursday, concerning the contenders for the constituencies traditionally held by members of the Gandhi-Nehru family. On Thursday, the BJP declared Dinesh Pratap Singh as its candidate from Rae Bareli, who had previously contested against Sonia Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Posters and banners featuring Rahul Gandhi and Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav were recently brought to the Congress office in Gauriganj. BJP leader Smriti Irani has already submitted her nomination papers from Amethi. Earlier, the Uttar Pradesh leadership of the Congress had urged the Gandhi family to contest both seats.
