Lucknow: Ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress party has revealed its star campaigners, featuring top leaders including Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. However, the suspense continues over the party's candidates for the crucial Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seats, traditional bastions of the Gandhi family.
The All India Congress Committee (AICC) released its list of 40 star campaigners, led by Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. Among the prominent Congress leaders from Uttar Pradesh on the list are Avinash Pandey, national general secretary in charge of UP, state president Ajay Rai, Rajya Sabha member Pramod Tiwari, and Congress UP Legislative Party leader Aradhana Mishra Mona.
Additionally, former Union ministers Salman Khurshid and Rajiv Shukla, along with former UP Congress presidents Brijlal Khabri, Ajay Kumar Lallu, Raj Babbar, and Nirmal Khatri, are included.
Notably, the star campaigners list also features leaders from other states, including Himanchal Pradesh CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu, Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah, Karnataka Deputy CM DK Shivakumar, Telangana CM A Revanth Reddy, and former Lok Sabha speaker Meira Kumar, highlighting the pan-Indian approach of the Congress campaign.
Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 members to the Lower House of Parliament, holds significant electoral importance, with voting for the first phase of Lok Sabha polls scheduled on April 19 in eight western UP constituencies.
While the Congress, in alliance with the Samajwadi Party, has announced candidates for 13 seats out of the 17 allotted in the state, suspense looms over the candidates for Mathura, Allahabad, Rae Bareli, and Amethi.
Amethi and Rae Bareli, set for polling in the fifth phase on May 20, have historically been stronghold constituencies for the Gandhi family. However, neither Sonia, Rahul, Priyanka, nor the Congress has announced their candidature from these constituencies. The UP Congress had proposed fielding Rahul and Priyanka from Amethi and Rae Bareli, respectively, but no official announcement has been made.
Amethi, which has seen sixteen Lok Sabha polls since Independence, has been won by the Congress nine times, including victories by Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi.
Similarly, Rae Bareli, with twenty Lok Sabha polls to date, has been won ten times by members of the Gandhi family, including Feroze Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, and Sonia Gandhi.
As the electoral battle intensifies in Uttar Pradesh, the absence of candidature announcements for Amethi and Rae Bareli adds an element of suspense to the unfolding political drama, setting the stage for a closely watched electoral contest.
