Surat (Gujarat) [India], May 4 : A day after the Congress fielded Rahul Gandhi from Raebareli and KL Sharma from Amethi, Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi said on Saturday that Raebareli and Amethi are equal for the party and the Gandhi family, and that the love and respect for both constituencies are the same.
While speaking with ANI, Pratapgarhi said, "For the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister, Raebareli and Amethi might be different, but for Congress and the Gandhi family, Amethi and Raebareli are equal."
He added further, "Respect and love for both places are also the same... I don't think that there is any issue here. KL Sharma is contesting from Amethi, what is the issue here? Rahul Gandhi is contesting from where he was told to."
Pratapgarhi further accused PM Narendra Modi of speaking about issues that were not even mentioned in the Congress manifesto. "After two phases of elections, PM Modi understood that the elections are now in the hands of the people. In every meeting, he speaks lies. Sometimes, he speaks about the Mangalsutra, sometimes he talks about Hindu-Muslims. He talks about things that are not written in the manifesto of Congress," he alleged.
After weeks of deliberations and speculations, Congress announced on Friday that Rahul Gandhi will be its candidate from the traditional Gandhi family stronghold of Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh, while KL Sharma will contest from Amethi in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.
The Amethi seat has been represented by Rahul since 2004, and he remained a member of Parliament from the constituency until 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. Sonia Gandhi contested elections from there in 1999 before passing the baton on to Rahul in 2004.
KL Sharma will go head-to-head with Union Minister Smriti Irani, who claimed victory over Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, flipping the Congress bastion seat.
Voting in Amethi and Rae Bareli will be held in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on May 20. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.