 "Rae Bareli or Wayanad? Why Rahul Gandhi must choose between them and which one he will pick")
Rae Bareli or Wayanad?
Rahul Gandhi needs to choose – and fairly soon.
The Congress leader, who contested from both Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh and Wayanad in Kerala in the recent Lok Sabha polls, won both seats by massive margins.
But why does Rahul have to choose? And which seat will it be?
Let’s take a closer look:
First, let’s take a look at both seats.
Rahul won the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh by a record margin.
He got 6,87,649 votes against the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Dinesh Pratap Singh who received 2,97,619 votes – a difference of 3,90,030 votes.
Sonia Gandhi in 2019 defeated Dinesh Pratap Singh by 1,67,178 votes.
Rahul also won the Wayanad set in Kerala by a margin of over 3.5 lakh votes.
Rahul, who got 6,47,445 votes, defeated the CPI’s Annie Raja who received 2,83,023 votes.
The margin between them is 3,64,422 votes
However, Rahul’s tally in Wayanad was lower than the 7,06,367 votes he got in 2019.
Why must Rahul choose? Which one will it be?
Though he won Lok Sabha seats in both Kerala and Uttar Pradesh, Rahul must now select one.
As per India Today, under the Representation of the People Act, 1951, a candidate can contest a poll from maximum of two constituencies.
However, a candidate who wins both seats can keep only one.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsA candidate must resign from one seat within two weeks of the result.
If he or she fails to do so, the candidate can lose both constituencies.
As per News18, once a candidate resigns from the seat a bypoll will be held in the constituency.
News18 quoted sources as saying that Rahul Gandhi will likely visit both seats next week before choosing which one to keep.
It said the final decision would likely come before 17 June.
Sources told the outlet Rahul could keep Rae Bareli to “focus on Uttar Pradesh and take advantage of good results.”
It is important to note that the Rae Bareli seat holds special significance for Rahul as it is a Gandhi bastion.
The Congress has held the seat since 1952 – barring three terms.
Rahul’s mother Sonia represented Rae Bareli for two decades.
India Today also quoted sources as saying that Rahul is likely to keep the Rae Bareli seat and resign from Wayanad.
The outlet reported that leaders at the Congress Working Committee on Saturday which saw Mallikarjun Kharge, Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi in attendance debate which seat Rahul should keep.
While MPs like Kodikkunnil Suresh advocated for the Wayanad seat to be retained, far more people were in favour of Rae Bareli.
Aradhana Mishra, the Congress Legislative Party leader from Uttar Pradesh, argued that Rae Bareli is the Gandhi family’s traditional seat and has been passed down from generation to generation.
Leaders also argued that Rahul winning Rae Bareli is central to reviving the Congress in the politically important state of Uttar Pradesh.
Economic Times quoted Congress general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP KC Venugopal as saying that Rahul would decide in the next few days
“This decision has to be taken before the 17th and it will come in 3-4 days,” Venugopal said.
‘Make Rahul Leader of Opposition’
This comes in the backdrop of the Congress Working Committee passing a resolution demanding that Rahul be made Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.
The Congress in the recent polls emerged as the second-largest party in the Lok Sabha.
The party, which won 99 seats, nearly doubled its tally of 52 seats in the 2019 elections.
“Rahul ji is the best person to lead this campaign inside the Parliament. He heard the sentiments of CWC and he will take a decision very soon,” Venugopal was quoted as saying by News18.
Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala told ANI, “All members have demanded Rahul Gandhi become the LoP… Which seat out of Rae Bareli or Wayanad should he give up, that will be solely for Rahul Gandhi to decide.”
Economic Times quoted Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pramod Tiwari as saying, “Definitely he (Rahul Gandhi) should become (LoP in Lok Sabha). This was the request of our working committee. He is fearless and courageous.”
Telangana chief minister Revanth Reddy said that this is the demand of 140 crore Indians.
“Our demand is the same as that of 140 crore Indians. Rahul Gandhi has to take the position as the leader of the Opposition. Rahul Gandhi has been fighting for women and the unemployed,” he said.
“We will play the role of a strong Opposition in the Parliament. Yes, we want the country to get such a face who can reply to the Prime Minister. I think the entire country wants this,” Congress MP Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa added.
With inputs from agencies
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