No Gandhi family contender in Amethi for first time in 25 years

Uttar Pradesh's Amethi has long been synonymous with the Gandhis and it would be the first time in 25 years that a Gandhi family member will not be contesting election from the Lok Sabha seat.

Considered a citadel of the Gandhi family since its creation as a constituency in 1967, Amethi has been represented by a Gandhi family member for about 31 years since then.

The Congress fortress was breached in the last general election in 2019 when BJP's Smriti Irani beat Rahul Gandhi by more than 55,000 votes.

This time, Rahul Gandhi will contest the Lok Sabha election from the Rae Bareli seat, while Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, has been fielded from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat. Sharma was the key person who looked after the two prestigious constituencies on behalf of the Gandhis.

The last time a non-Gandhi was in the fray from the constituency was in 1998, when Satish Sharma, a close aide of Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi, contested the polls but lost to the BJP's Sanjaya Sinh.

Sonia Gandhi reclaimed the seat in 1999 routing Singh by over 3 lakh votes.

The Amethi and Rae Bareli seats will go to polls on May 20 in the fifth of the seven-phase general election.

(With inputs from agencies)