After more than two decades, Congress has broken norms by fielding a candidate from outside the Gandhi family to contest from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat. Once considered a Congress bastion, the party has fielded Kishori Lal Sharma from Amethi on Friday. The scion of Gandhi’s family, Rahul Gandhi, has been contesting from Amethi since 2004. Before him, his mother Sonia Gandhi, and father Rajiv Gandhi had also represented Amethi.
Rajiv Gandhi was the Member of Parliament from Amethi in the Lower House from 1981 till his death in 1991. Sonia Gandhi contested elections from here in 1999, before passing the baton to Rahul in 2004.
Rahul Gandhi to contest from Raebareli, Kishori Lal Sharma from Amethi
However, Rahul Gandhi’s defeat in Amethi at the hands of BJP’s Smriti Irani in the 2019 polls was seen as a blow to the party.
Ending days of speculation, the Congress has nominated KL Sharma from its ‘pocket borough’ in the ongoing Lok Sabha election. Here’s all you need to know about him:
About KL Sharma
A Congress loyalist, KL Sharma hails from Ludhiana, Punjab. His association with Congress can be traced back to 1983, when he began working with Rajiv Gandhi. After Rajiv Gandhi in 1991, he worked with Captain Satish Sharma in Amethi and was associated with Sonia Gandhi as the in charge of the constituency, when she first contested the elections from Amethi in 1999. Later for some time, he worked as in-charge of both Rae Bareli and Amethi seats. After Sonia Gandhi vacated the Amethi seat and moved to Rae Bareli, KL Sharma moved to the city with her.
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Sharma has worked for the Congress party in Bihar and Punjab as well.
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Amethi Lok Sabha polls 2024
Polling is scheduled in Amethi in the fifth phase on May 20. The Congress is contesting 17 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. In the remaining 63 seats, the INDIA bloc will have nominees from the Samajwadi Party and other smaller allies.
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Published: 03 May 2024, 08:44 AM IST