![Congress fields Rahul Gandhi from Raebareli for high-voltage Lok Sabha contest Congress fields Rahul Gandhi from Raebareli for high-voltage Lok Sabha contest](https://www.indiablooms.com/news_pic/2024/995ca8ad5df25874177bdcc0bf882342.jpg)
Congress fields Rahul Gandhi from Raebareli for high-voltage Lok Sabha contest
India's age-old party Congress on Friday named former party chief Rahul Gandhi as its candidate for the general polls from Raebareli seat in Uttar Pradesh.
It was expected that Rahul Gandhi would be fighting from Amethi, a seat where he contested for several years before being defeated in 2019 general polls by BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani.
'केंद्रीय चुनाव समिति' की बैठक में लोकसभा चुनाव, 2024 के लिए श्री @RahulGandhi को उत्तर प्रदेश के रायबरेली से और श्री किशोरी लाल शर्मा को अमेठी से कांग्रेस उम्मीदवार घोषित किया गया है। pic.twitter.com/AyFIxI62XH
— Congress (@INCIndia) May 3, 2024
In its latest candidate list, Congress fielded Kishori Lal Sharma from Amethi.
Both the seats remained Congress bastions for years.
Elections in the Raebareli and Amethi seats will be held on May 20 in the fifth phase of the polls.
Sharma will face Irani in the politically crucial Amethi seat.
Rahul Gandhi would face BJP leader Dinesh Pratap Singh in Raebareli.
Former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had defeated him in 2019.
भाजपा की केंद्रीय चुनाव समिति ने आगामी लोकसभा चुनाव 2024 हेतु अपनी 17वीं सूची में निम्नलिखित दो नामों पर अपनी स्वीकृति प्रदान की है। pic.twitter.com/BzbzxikzVM
— BJP (@BJP4India) May 2, 2024
Rahul Gandhi was elected to Lok Sabha last year when he won Wayanad seat despite losing his hold on Amethi.
India has so far voted in the first two phases of the Lok Sabha polls.
The polls assume significance as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is looking forward to return to power for the record third term which is rare in Indian politics.
If elected to power, Modi will be the first non-Congress PM to lead the country for three consecutive terms.
In 2014, Modi was elected to power for the first term after he lead his Bharatiya Janata Party to a massive victory to end the Congress-led UPA rule of tean years.
In February this year, Sonia Gandhi chose to contest as a Rajya Sabha member, citing health and age issues. She was unanimously elected to the Upper House from Rajasthan.
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