"Rahul Gandhi abandoned Amethi, losers often do that": BJP leader Amit Malviya

New Delhi [India], May 3 (ANI): After Congress decided to field Rahul Gandhi from the Raebareli, Bharatiya Janata Party leader Amit Malviya on Friday said that it is not surprising that Wayanad MP has abandoned Amethi Lok Sabha seat, adding that it is an admission by Rahul Gandhi that he cannot win Amethi.
In a post on X, Amit Malviya said, "Finally, Rahul Gandhi has abandoned Amethi. Losers often do that. So, no surprises there. It is also an admission that Rahul Gandhi can't win. In which case, why should anyone waste their vote on I.N.D.I Alliance? Phase 3 onwards, the voting will be even more in favour of the NDA."
Congress move to field Rahul Gandhi from Raebareli ended all speculations about Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contesting from this seat. Malviya said that this move is an attempt by the Congress party to keep "Priyanka Gandhi Vadra out of power".
"It is clear as daylight that the Rahul Gandhi camp doesn't want the sister to rise, lest she outshines him. How this sibling struggle for power within Congress plays out, remains to be seen. But for now, Priyanka Vadra has lost out, again," Malviya added.
In this regard, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak exuded confidence in the outcome of elections from Raebareli and Amethi. Pathak said that Rahul Gandhi will not be accepted by the people of Raebareli.
"BJP is going to win in Raebareli and Amethi by a huge margin. Rahul Gandhi had first left Amethi and gone to Wayanad, now he has come to Raebareli. The people of Raebareli will never accept him. The BJP is going to win all 80 seats in the state with a huge majority," Brajesh Pathak said.
Rahul Gandhi is pitted against the BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh.
Rahul currently represents Wayanad in the Lok Sabha while Smriti Irani is bidding for a fresh term from Amethi. Raebareli was held by Sonia Gandhi who became a member of Rajya Sabha.The Congress party has also named Kishori Lal Sharma, a party loyalist from Amethi, the seat Rahul Gandhi lost in the 2019 general elections to BJP leader Smriti Irani.
Sonia Gandhi contested elections from here in 1999 before passing the baton on to Rahul in 2004. Irani had earlier filed her nomination as the BJP candidate for Amethi.These seats are going to polls in the fifth phase on May 20.Rahul represented Amethi in the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2019. His father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, too, was an elected member of Amethi in the Lower House from 1981 till his death in 1991.
Friday is the last date for filing nominations for the seats that will go to the polls on May 20 in the fifth phase of the seven-phase general elections.The party has won the Congress bastion in all but three Lok Sabha elections since 1951. Before Sonia Gandhi, former Indira Gandhi had won from Raebareli three times.
The constituency also elected Indira's husband and Congress leader, Feroze Gandhi twice, in 1952 and 1957. A member of the Nehru-Gandhi family has not contested the seat just twice, in 1962 and 1999.
Both constituencies are traditional strongholds of the Gandhi-Nehru family, with its members holding these seats for decades.The Congress, which is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh as part of the seat-sharing deal with the Samajwadi Party (SP), has announced candidates for all the seats barring Amethi and Raebareli.
Rahul's defeat in Amethi, once considered a Congress 'pocket borough', at the hands of Smriti Irani in the 2019 polls was seen as a significant blow to the party's national prestige. (ANI)