The Congress asserted on Wednesday that within 24 hours, the candidates for the Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituencies would be announced by the party's Central Election Committee (CEC), which empowered Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to finalise the candidates for Amethi and Rae Bareli.
"My expectation is that in the next 24-30 hours, the Congress president will finalise and a decision taken by him will be announced," Congress chief spokesman Jairam Ramesh said in response to a question at AICC press conference.
Speculation had been rife that Rahul Gandhi might contest the Lok Sabha polls from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from Raebareli, a seat that was previously held by her mother Sonia Gandhi. Both seats are considered bastions of the Gandhi family and the local units of the Congress have demanded that the two scions of the family contest from there. Congress has forged an alliance with the SP in Uttar Pradesh and is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in the State.
