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Rahul Gandhi Is Locked In A Heated Contest With Smriti Irani In Amethi

Will the Congress president be able to win both Amethi and Wayanad?

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been at the receiving end of severe criticism for his decision to contest 2019 elections from both Amethi and Kerala’s Wayanad.

While Wayanad has already voted, Amethi will vote on 6 May in the fifth phase of the 2019 Lok Sabha Election.

Gandhi is again taking on Union minister Smriti Irani (profile) in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi. This is the second time when the constituency will witness a high-profile battle between the two.

In 2014, Irani had lost to Gandhi but delivered a major blow to his vote share. He won by only a margin of 1.07 lakh votes while in 2009, he had won the seat by a margin of 3.7 lakh votes.

After a huge roadshow, Gandhi had filed his nomination papers on 10 April. This is the fourth time when he has filed nomination from the Congress bastion. He first fought from Amethi in 2004 when Sonia Gandhi vacated the seat for him, according to The Economic Times.

The Congress president has been continuously targeted for his decision to contest from Wayanad as well, with his opponent Irani terming it an “insult” to the people of Amethi and a “betrayal”.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has taken jibes at Gandhi, saying his decision to contest from a second seat suggests he is not confident of a win from Amethi. However, the Congress party has dismissed all such speculations with party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra saying, “He is not at all insecure”.

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“He went to Wayanad because of demand from party workers in the south. Everyone in the party is happy that he will represent both north and the south,” The Times of India quoted Vadra as saying.

It remains to be seen which seat Gandhi will retain if he is able to win both.

Meanwhile, the Congress chief is battling questions over his citizenship after the Home Ministry sent him a notice. A plea has also been filed in the Supreme Court seeking directions to the Centre and Election Commission to debar Gandhi from contesting polls till the issue of his citizenship is decided.

(With PTI inputs)

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.