INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
It is a significant improvement from five years ago when the Congress lost all seats, barring Rae Bareli, which it had contested, including
Rahul's loss to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)'s Smriti Irani from Amethi
(Photo: PTI)4 min read Last Updated : Jun 17 2024 | 11:15 PM IST
Rahul Gandhi has retained the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat, while the
vacated Wayanad seat will be taken up by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, party president Mallikarjun Kharge announced on Monday evening.
Kharge
However, the decision primarily concerns Congress' improved performance in UP in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls, with an eye on the 2027 Assembly
polls in the state and the larger objective of recovering its lost ground in the Hindi heartland.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the
Congress won six seats in UP of the 17 it contested in alliance with the Samajwadi Party, and improved its vote share to 9.46 per
2026 Assembly polls, insisted that a 'Gandhi' should represent Wayanad if Rahul were to vacate it
Rahul had first contested and won from Wayanad in 2019, which ensured that he found a seat in the Lok Sabha as he lost from Amethi, a seat
he had represented since 2004
On Monday evening, Rahul acknowledged Wayanad's contribution to his political career
"The people of Wayanad gave me support and energy to fight at a very difficult time
I will never forget that," he said
"I will continue to visit Wayanad, and the promises we made to Wayanad will be fulfilled," Rahul said
entered active politics in 2019 but will be making her electoral debut now, said
In the 2024 polls, she had stationed herself in Amethi to ensure the win of family loyalist KL Sharma against BJP's Irani
390,030 votes and from Wayanad by 364,422 votes
preferring the UP seat over the one he won in a state outside , Rahul has joined a list that comprises Prime Minister Narendra Modi, former
PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Congress leader Sonia Gandhi
At different junctures in their electoral outings, they contested two Lok Sabha seats in two states, one of which was UP
When confronted with the option of quitting one, they made the same choice Rahul made on Monday: opting to retain the seat they had won in
In 1999, Sonia resigned from Bellary to keep Amethi
In 2014, Modi vacated the Vadodara seat to retain Varanasi
party's decision after a meeting at his residence, which Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, and party general
secretaries K C Venugopal and Priyanka attended
Working Committee, the party's highest decision-making body, had earlier this month urged Rahul to take up the position as "he is the best
