New Delhi, December 12 (IANS)| Former Congress President Rahul Gandhi will start the campaign for the UP Assembly elections from his former Lok Sabha seat Amethi. The date has not been decided yet but it is being said that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be in Amethi and Rae Bareli on December 17 and 18. The party is looking weak after the lone Congress MLA Aditi Singh joined the BJP. The party does not have any Legislative Assembly member in both the Lok Sabha seats as both the MLAs elected on Congress ticket in Rae Bareli have switched to BJP.
The party is thinking of a good performance in the assembly elections to retain the seats and increase its numbers in the next elections.Union Minister Smriti Irani, who defeated Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in 2019, is also working to increase the party’s base in Rae Bareli.Of the total ten assembly seats in two Lok Sabha constituencies – Amethi and Rae Bareli, six are already held by the BJP.Two Congress MLAs Aditi Singh and Rakesh Singh have joined BJP from Rae Bareli and Dinesh Pratap Singh, Congress MLC from Rae Bareli has also joined BJP.
Aditi Singh had revolted against the Congress last year when she defied the party’s whip and attended a one-day special session of the UP Assembly.Since then, she has been criticizing the Congress leadership and praising the BJP. He was expected to join the BJP for the past several months.The district panchayats of these two districts are also controlled by the BJP.In Rae Bareli, Irani has replaced Sonia Gandhi as the chairperson of the District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee in July.Sonia Gandhi has been away from her constituency due to health reasons. This has lowered the morale of the Congress workers there.The departure of some senior leaders, including two sitting MLAs, has hurt the party in an area that was once a Congress stronghold.Priyanka Gandhi, who looks after Rae Bareli and Amethi, has also not been able to devote much time to both the constituencies as she is busy with state level issues.The BJP, on the other hand, has prepared a good ground to expand its reach. Congress does not have a single MLA in Rae Bareli and Amethi.
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