Suspense continues over Rahul Gandhi’s candidature from Amethi
Gandhi has visited Amethi, which has been his family’s pocket borough for decades, only thrice since losing the seat to Union minister Smriti Irani five years back
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Lok Sabha candidature was approved from Kerala’s Wayanad as expected at the first meeting of the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC) on Thursday. But the suspense continues over whether he would contest Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi seat that he represented from 2004 to 2019.
Gandhi has visited Amethi, which has been his family’s pocket borough for decades, only thrice since losing the seat to Union minister Smriti Irani five years back. The infrequency of his visits has been seen as an indication of a lack of effort to win back his voters. But Congress leaders have cited “an overwhelming response” when Gandhi led his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra to Amethi to negate this perception. The BJP has, meanwhile, renominated Irani as its candidate from Amethi.
Congress poll body’s first meeting
The CEC’s meeting on Thursday focussed on finalising candidates from Kerala, Karnataka, Telangana, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and seven North East states barring Assam. Congress lawmaker Shashi Tharoor and Jyotsna Mahant’s names were cleared from Thiruvananthapuram and Chattisgarh. Former Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel and former Rajasthan deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, who were present at the meeting, were asked to contest the Lok Sabha polls.
Congress’ women wing head Alka Lamba, former members of Parliament (MP) Sandip Dikshit, and JP Agarwal’s names were proposed for Delhi’s Chandni Chowk seat. For the North West Delhi constituency, former MP Udit Raj and Raj Kumar Chauhan were among the candidates shortlisted. State unit chief Arvinder Singh Lovely, Anil Choudhury and one more name were suggested to CEC for the North East Delhi seat.
Congress announces poll guarantees
Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge separately promised three million government jobs, guaranteed apprenticeship of all degree/diploma holders with a stipend of ₹1 lakh per year, social security net for gig workers, etc if Congress is voted to power. The promises were made at a rally in Rajasthan on Thursday.
The promises are seen to be an attempt to outwit the BJP. The Congress, which rolled out rights-based laws when it was in power until 2014, calls these promises guarantees. The BJP has been packaging its poll assurances as “Modi ki guarantee”, banking on the popularity of the Prime Minister
CPI(M) outreach on International Women’s Day
With elections around the corner, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) or CPI(M) plans an outreach on the International Women’s Day in Kerala with a series of public meetings. CPI(M) Politburo leader Brinda Karat inaugurated a Women’s Day meeting in Kollam. Another leader Subhashini Ali inaugurated another event in Ponani and Mariam Dhawale was in Kozhikode for a related programme. The Left parties have already declared their candidates for the Lok Sabha polls.
Congress and the Left are part of the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) but rivals in Kerala. A Congress leader, however, said whoever wins, ultimately all 20 seats in Kerala will come to the INDIA bloc.
AAP-Cong Punjab tussle
The Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) similarly may have managed a seat-sharing agreement for Delhi, Gujarat, and Haryana but their tussle continues in Punjab. On Thursday, Congress members stormed the Well of the Punjab House urging the Speaker to allow state party chief Amarinder Singh Raja Warring to complete his speech. The Speaker named all the Congress legislators present in the House, except Sandeep Jakhar, and suspended them for the rest of the day. Marshals were called to take away Warring from the House as he refused to leave.
Congress leaders called the action ill-timed. “We have accepted the fact that our Punjab unit cannot have an alliance with the AAP. The BJP and the Akali Dal would benefit if the principal Opposition party [Congress] joined hands with the ruling outfit [AAP]. But these incidents in Punjab could be avoided especially when we are contesting the polls with AAP elsewhere,” said a senior Congress leader.