Decision on Rae Bareli, Amethi seats soon: Avinash
The Congress general secretary says a proposal to field Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is very much on the cards. ongress workers of Amethi and Rae Bareli are pleading before the party leadership with “folded hands” that senior leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra must be asked to contest from the two seats, Avinash Pandey, the party’s general secretary and Uttar Pradesh in-charge, said on Thursday.
Mr. Pandey said the leadership already had serious discussions on the proposal and the next meeting of the Central Election Committee, headed by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, will take a nal decision on the matter.
Mr. Pandey was talking to The Hindu after a convention of Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) workers in Shajahanpur recently. When asked about the candidates for the pocket boroughs of the Gandhi family and the demand that siblings must contest the two seats, he said: “It is very much on the cards. Serious discussions have already been taken place [within the party]. In the next meeting of the Central Election Committee [CEC], a decision will be taken. There is a unanimous demand with folded hands by the Congress workers and people from Rae Bareli, Amethi and other parts of Uttar Pradesh that Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi must contest. But the CEC, ultimately, will take the decision. Whatever decision is taken by the CEC, it will be in the interest of the party,” Mr. Pandey said. Expressing condence that the alliance will emerge victorious in the politically crucial State, he said the issue of insecurity among the common people, and questions about the misuse of the constitutional o¤ces for weakening the Opposition parties are the main issues being discussed by the people. “They are feeling threatened that the democracy of this country is going to be nished,” he said.
He said the Congress had compromised its interests for the larger interest of the alliance and decided to contest 17 seats.
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