BJP leader's dig at Rahul Gandhi after Cong's 1st list of candidates: ‘Got scared?’

The Congress' first list of candidates for the upcoming polls announced Rahul Gandhi's name from Kerala's Wayanad constituency.

Updated on: Mar 8, 2024, 22:41:13 IST

By HT News Desk

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BJP leader Amit Malviya on Friday took a potshot at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for giving the much-anticipated Amethi seat a miss in the party's first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. Taking to his official handle on X Amit Malviya wrote, “Rahul Gandhi won’t contest from Amethi? डर गया? (Got scared?)”

The Congress' first list of candidates for the upcoming polls announced Gandhi's name from Kerala's Wayanad whereas other prominent leaders like former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and party MP Shashi Tharoor were fielded from Rajnandgaon and Thiruvananthapuram, respectively.

The Congress chose its leader Rajmohan Unnithan to represent the Kasaragod seat, whereas leaders like K Sudhakaran, Shafi Parambil, MK Raghavan, Anto Antony, K Muraleedharan were fielded from Kannur, Wadakara, Kozhikode, Pathanamthitta and Thrissur seats, respectively.

The party also announced candidates for its constituencies in other states like Karnataka, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Telangana, and Tripura. However, it remains to be seen if Rahul Gandhi will contest the upcoming polls from the Amethi seat. The Congress party is set to hold its next CEC meeting on March 11.

READ | Shashi Tharoor to contest against Rajeev Chandrasekhar in 2024 Lok Sabha polls

Rahul Gandhi has won the Amethi seat thrice consecutively since 2004 before he was defeated by BJP's Smriti Irani in 2019. The BJP in its first list released last week fielded Irani from the Amethi seat. Irani also dared Rahul Gandhi to contest from Amethi in the upcoming polls.

"At the moment I do not know who will contest the elections, but the way Congress people are not able to muster the courage to declare the candidate from here (Amethi), it seems that Amethi's power and fear of defeat is haunting them. This is a clear indication of their defeat," she said.

Meanwhile, during the Uttar Pradesh segment of his ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, Gandhi made an appearance in Amethi, emphasizing his enduring connection with the locality. “I have come to Amethi. Our relationship is old. We have a bond of love. I want to thank all of you,” Gandhi was heard saying.

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HT News Desk
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