Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday hailed the candidature of Kishori Lal Sharma from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat, saying the Gandhi family has had a longstanding association with him.Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, has been fielded from the seat to take on the BJP's Smriti Irani.Sharma was the key person who looked after the two prestigious constituencies on behalf of the Gandhis."Our family has a long-standing relationship with Kishori Lal Sharma ji. He has always been engaged wholeheartedly in serving the people of Amethi and Rae Bareli. His passion for public service is an example in itself," Priyanka Gandhi said in a post on X in Hindi.
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"Today, it is a matter of happiness that Shri Kishori Lal ji has been made the candidate from Amethi by the Congress Party. Kishori Lal ji's loyalty and dedication towards his duty will definitely bring him success in this election," the Congress general secretary said.Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who has been an MP from Amethi thrice, will contest the Lok Sabha election from the Rae Bareli, the constituency held by his mother Sonia Gandhi earlier. The two seats will go to polls on May 20 in the fifth of the seven-phase general election.In the run up to the polls, speculations were rife that Priyanka Gandhi may contest from either Amethi or Rae Bareli.Ending days of suspense, the party early Friday announced the candidates from the two seats.
A long time Congress loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma hails from Ludhiana, Punjab. Sharma's association with Congress party goes back to 1983 when he started working with Rajiv Gandhi after leaving Punjab. Later, he worked with Sonia Gandhi as in charge of the Amethi constituency which she contested in 1999. Later Sharma worked as in charge of Raebareli seat too. The Congress had been winning Amethi and Raebareli seats since 1999 until 2019 Lok Sabha elections when Rahul Gandhi lost Amethi to Union Minister Smriti Irani. Rahul had been winning Amethi since 2004. The BJP has once again fielded Irani from Amethi. The grand old party is contesting Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the Samajwadi Party. The Congress has got 17 of the 80 seats from UP while the remaining have been distributed among Samajwadi Party and other allies of the India bloc.