Rahul arrives in Raebareli with family to file nomination papers
What's the story
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday traveled to Raebareli on a special chartered flight to submit his nomination from the parliamentary constituency, which will go to polls on May 20.
He was accompanied by his mother Sonia Gandhi, sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, brother-in-law Robert Vadra, and top Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot and KC Venugopal.
The group landed at Fursatgunj airfield where they were joined by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy.
Candidacy announcement
Congress confirms Rahul Gandhi as Raebareli candidate
After weeks of speculation, the Congress announced that Rahul would be their candidate for the Raebareli seat in the Lok Sabha elections.
This seat was recently vacated by Sonia who has moved to the Rajya Sabha.
The party also announced KL Sharma, a trusted ally of the Gandhi family, will contest from Amethi.
Rahul represented the Amethi seat from 2004—serving as its MP for three consecutive terms until 2019 when he was defeated by the Bharatiya Janata Party's Smriti Irani.
Election battle
Rahul to face off against former Congress leader
In Raebareli, Rahul will face former Congress leader Dinesh Pratap Singh, who has since joined the BJP.
In the 2019 elections, Singh contested for the same seat but was defeated by Sonia.
Despite his defeat in the 2019 Raebareli election, Singh set a record for receiving the highest number of votes by any BJP candidate ever.
Information
Rahul also seeking reelection from Wayanad
Notably, Rahul is also seeking reelection from Kerala's Wayanad seat. The constituency went to polls in the second phase of elections held on April 26, where his opponents were state BJP chief K Surendran and the Communist Party of India's Annie Raja.