For the second consecutive time, Rahul Gandhi will face the BJP’s Smriti Irani.
Lucknow: Congress president Rahul Gandhi will file his nomination for the Amethi Lok Sabha seat today (Wednesday).
Amethi is considered a Gandhi bastion in Uttar Pradesh which he has represented for the last 14 years.
The nomination comes amid a raging controversy over his decision to contest from a second seat – Wayanad in Kerala – in national elections that begin on Thursday.
Gandhi will also hold a road show in Gauriganj town, the administrative headquarters of Amethi.
For the second consecutive time, he will face the BJP’s Smriti Irani, who is likely to file her nomination papers a day later on Thursday.
In 2014, Smriti Irani lost to Rahul Gandhi but drew satisfaction from the much reduced margin of victory for Rahul Gandhi in a Gandhi family stronghold. In the past five years, she has repeatedly visited Amethi, a largely rural constituency around 130 km from Lucknow, and launched central government projects like the assault rifle manufacturing unit for which the foundation stone was laid last month by PM Modi.
Amethi goes to polls in the fifth phase on May 6.