"Elections for Smriti Irani are going to be tough...," UP Congress Incharge Avinash Pande

Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 26 (ANI): Uttar Pradesh congress-in-charge">Congress in-charge Avinash Pande on Friday exuded confidence that the INDIA alliance will win the Lok Sabha elections adding that the elections for Smriti Irani are going to be tough.
Speaking to ANI, Avinash Pande said that this election will be fought very strongly by the INDIA bloc.
"This election will be fought very strongly from there by the INDIA alliance and it is not as easy as BJP pretends it to be, this itself shows, from inside, they have accepted the defeat...Smriti Irani's statements shouldn't be given importance anywhere...reacting to it will be like stooping to a very low level of politics. For Smriti Irani also this election is going to be tough and the INDIA alliance will win," Uttar Pradesh congress-in-charge">Congress in-charge said when asked about Amethi and Raebareli seats.
Avinash Pande claimed that there is a lot of excitement in people for a change adding that in all the constituencies he is witnessing a lot of excitement in people for change.
"In all the constituencies I have visited, I could see a lot of excitement in people for change. The way voting happened in the first phase, it is very clear that the candidates of INDIA alliance are winning by a good majority. The reason for that is there is dissatisfaction among people, especially among youth, they're totally disappointed with the present govt. They want a change," he said.
Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi are likely to contest the Lok Sabha election from Rae Bareli and Amethi seats, respectively, sources said on Thursday.
According to the sources, the final decision will be taken after April 26 and nominations can be filed next week.
Smriti Irani defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi. Irani has again been fielded by the Bharatiya Janata Party from the seat.
As per the seat agreement between the Samajwadi Party and Congress in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress will contest 17 seats and the Samajwadi Party the remaining 63 seats in the electorally crucial state.
Apart from its traditional strongholds of Rae Bareli and Amethi, the Congress is also contesting on Varanasi, Ghaziabad and Kanpur.
Earlier, posters featuring Robert Vadra, husband of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, appeared outside the party's office on Wednesday in the Gauriganj area of Amethi. This raised speculations of a possible ticket for Vadra.
However, the Congress appears to put up a fight for every seat that it is contesting and has thus decided on fielding the Gandhi sibling. Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituencies will vote in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on May 20.
However, Rahul Gandhi will not find the going easy in his erstwhile bastion as Union Minister Smriti Irani has been campaigning extensively in the constituency. On April 8, the Union Minister questioned Rahul Gandhi's loyalty to Amethi.
Rae Bareli is a Congress bastion since 1960 with both Feroze Gandhi and Indira Gandhi having represented it. Sonia Gandhi has been the MP from the constituency since she won the 2006 by poll. With Sonia moving to the upper house, the Congress is likely to field Priyanka Gandhi who is a general secretary in the party. (ANI)