The Rae Bareli constituency, long considered to be the pocket borough of the Congress party, will be one of the keenly observed seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The reason being that Sonia Gandhi, who has represented the seat five times in a row (2004, 2006, 2009, 2014 and 2019) had declared well in advance that she would not be contesting the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. This has sent the Congress in a huddle as to who will be its face for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls from Rae Bareli.
The situation for the BJP is not any better as the saffron party too is struggling to finalise the candidate from this seat. Names of several leaders from the BJP is doing rounds as far as Rae Bareli seat is concerned. Foremost among them is Dinesh Pratap Singh. However, the BJP has also not made a formal announcement.
Key Fight
The high-profile constituency of Rae Bareli is set to witness an intense fight irrespective of the candidates announced by both the Congress and the BJP. Reports said that Sonia Gandhi has communicated to both Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi that she wants them to contest from Amethi and Rae Bareli respectively.
On the other hand, there are reports that the BJP wants to field Varun Gandhi from the Rae Bareli seat, possibly making it a Gandhi vs Gandhi battle in Rae Bareli for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Dinesh Pratap Singh's name from the BJP is also doing rounds as a possible candidate from the seat.
Schedule
Voting in Rae Bareli will take place on May 20 under phase five of the Lok Sabha elections 2024. The result will be announced on June 4.
Previous Results
The Rae Bareli seat has been a Congress bastion for a long time. While Sonia Gandhi won the seat in 2004, 2006 (by-polls), 2009, 2014 and 2019, the seat was also won by former Prime Minister of India, Indira Gandhi in 1967, 1971 and 1980. The BJP won the seat in 1996 and 1998 when Ashok Singh managed to register victory from the seat. However, for 20 years now, the seat has been with the Congress and Sonia Gandhi, who won the last election here comfortably against Dinesh Pratap Singh of the BJP.
