After weeks of deliberations and talks, the Congress named Rahul Gandhi as its candidate from the traditional Gandhi family seat of Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress also fielded Kishori Lal Sharma, the influential representative of the Nehru-Gandhi family for over two decades, from Amethi. Some leaders had claimed that with Priyanka Gandhi being reluctant to contest the Lok Sabha elections, Rahul had agreed to contest from Rae Bareli, the seat represented by his mother Sonia Gandhi since 2004. Since Independence, the Congress has lost Amethi and Rae Bareli only thrice. The party tasted defeat for the first time in Rae Bareli in 1977 when Indira Gandhi famously lost to Raj Narain in the elections post Emergency. The party lost the seat again in 1996 and in 1998 but has not been defeated there since then. Similarly, the Congress was defeated in Amethi in 1977, 1998 and 2019.
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