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As the suspense over the Congress' candidates for the Amethi and Raebareli Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh continues to mount, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Thursday exuded confidence in his party winning the seats irrespective of the stature of any candidate from the other side.
Speaking to ANI, Maurya said, "No matter who contests- be it from Congress, Yadav family or BSP, BJP will only win (From Raibareli and Amethi)." He also said that the problem of candidates on both seats lies with Congress only as his party has already announced its candidates. "Anyone can come as their candidate. We will relish his/her defeat," he added. The Congress has not yet put out any official statement on its choice of nominees from Amethi and Raebareli, which were considered the party's strongholds until the 2019 elections. According to sources, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is already on the Congress ticket from Wayanad in Kerala, which polled in the second phase on April 26, is likely to put himself in the fray from Amethi as well. Adding to the intrigue around the Congress' choice of candidates for these two constituencies, sources claimed that even as Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi appear reluctant to contest Amethi and Raebareli, Kharge insisted that at least one of them enter the fray. The Congress, which is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh as part of the seat-sharing deal with the Samajwadi Party (SP), has announced candidates for all the seats barring Amethi and Raebareli. Amethi is scheduled to poll in the fifth phase on May 20, with the last date for filing nominations scheduled on May 3. Rahul represented Amethi in the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 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 here in 1999 before passing the baton on to Rahul in 2004. (ANI)
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