Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been in news since today morning for contesting Lok Sabha polls 2024 from Rae Bareli. The development has made it clear that Rahul will be contesting general elections from two seats— Wayanad in Kerala, and Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.
Political experts have warned against the idea to contest elections from two seats because of its repercussions. On winning from both the constituencies, the candidate has to vacate one seat which leads to by-polls, thus, waste of public money and resources. Although there are no constitutional provisions against contesting from two parliamentary seats, the Election Commission of India has always advocated against the move.
For Rahul, after 2019 — when he contested from both Amethi and Wayanad — he is treading on to the same path for the second time in 2024.
In last year’s general elections, he lost from Amethi, so the EC’s concerns against contesting from two seats did not find a breeding ground. However, this time, too, a similar situation might crop up.
The gravity of a contest is defined from the contenders that are in fray. And in case of Wayanad and Rae Bareli, the ground reality for Rahul is in stark contrast with one another.
Contest in Wayanad
For the Gandhi scion, the contest in Wayanad is unlikely to be a cakewalk. The Bharatiya Janata Party’s state president K Surendran, and the ruling Left’s stalwart Annie Raja have been fielded against the face of the Gandhi family.
Surendran was appointed as the head of the BJP Kerala unit in 2020 who became the face of the protests against the entry of young women into Sabarimala years ago.
Surendran appears to be a perfect pick of the saffron party to contest from the parliamentary seat in question because he started his political career as Wayanad district president of the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha.
Although he lost from Pathanamthitta in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, it is expected from him to win in Wayanad, given that it is his home turf. And over the years, he has risen to fame getting promoted from a district president to the party’s state chief.
On the other hand, it is Annie Raja fielded by the CPI (Communist Party of India). Besides being general secretary of the party’s National Federation of Indian Women, she also serves as a member of the national executive of CPI.
Annie is the wife of CPI general secretary D Raja and one of the prominent party leaders in Delhi.
Besides hailing from Kerala and being more connected to the roots of the state, both Surendran and Raja had been actively involved in student politics.
Raja joined the student wing of CPI, All India Students Federation, and later its youth wing, All India Youth Federation.
Conversely, Rahul — for reasons not being specific — could not make a mark in the student politics of the country.
However, Rahul has better luck when it comes to proving one’s mettle in the Lok Sabha polls. He won the 14th general elections from Amethi in 2004. And this time, too, he is a sitting MP from Wayanad.
As far as Surendran and Annie are concerned, both have missed out on the fame to conest and win parliamentary elections— the CPI candidate did not even have the opportunity to contest one. Surendran, although contested one, yet could not win.
Apart from this last factor, all other reasons signify that Rahul has tough competitors in Wayanad, hinting at an unfavourable verdict for the most-prominent face of the Gandhi family.
Contest in Rae Bareli
Rae Bareli is no less than a home turf for the Gandhis. And Rahul’s name as the Congress candidate from the Lok Sabha seat this year has not come as a surprise. Moreover, the fight here is against the BJP candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh.
Singh was associated with the grand old party of India in 2010, after being part of the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.
In 2017, the Congress suspended him for alleged improper misbehaving with the general secretary of the Rae Bareli Congress committee and other local party leaders.
Singh was also, reportedly, accused of trying to undermine Kishori Lal Sharma — he has been fielded from Amethi — AICC general secretary and Sonia Gandhi’s representative in the constituency.
In retaliation, Singh joined the BJP in 2018 and contested against Congress veteran Sonia Gandhi and lost to her.
For Singh, contesting against Rahul in 2024 might be a fight for him to protect his pride. However, stakes are high for the Congress in Rae Bareli. And whether or not the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh can come up with a foolproof plan to make Singh win the seat is a matter of speculation.
Moreover, on viewing it from the other side of the fence, even if Rahul wins from both the seats and chooses to stick to Wayanad, the Congress’s back-up plan in the form of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is ready for Rae Bareli.
The trend and associated facts suggest that Rahul Gandhi has better chances of representing Rae Bareli in the Parliament this time. However, one must not forget that the electoral landscape of India remains unreliable till the final verdict.
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