Nobody is scared, decision on candidates in next 24-30 hours: Cong on Amethi, Raebareli
New Delhi (PTI): Amid the mounting suspense over the Amethi and Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seats, the Congress on Wednesday asserted that "nobody is scared" and a decision on the matter would be announced in the next 24-30 hours.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said that party's central election committee (CEC) has empowered Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge to finalise the candidates for Amethi and Rarbareli.
"My expectation is that in the next 24-30 hours, the Congress president will finalise and a decision taken by him will be announced," Ramesh said in response to a question at a press conference at the AICC headquarters here.
"Till that is done all the information, all so-called office orders are fake," he said.
Asked why there is delay in taking a decision and if the Congress was "scared" in fielding Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, Ramesh said, "There is no delay. Has the BJP not announced its candidates in Raebareli? Smriti Irani is a sitting MP. Nobody is scared, discussions are ongoing, the Congress president has been authorized."
"There is no delay, there is time till May 3," he said.
The state leadership in Uttar Pradesh has already urged the central election committee and the party leadership to field Rahul Gandhi from Amethi and Priyanka from Rae Bareli.
The CEC members had also supported the view of the Uttar Pradesh Congress during its last meeting on Saturday.
The Amethi seat has been represented by Rahul Gandhi from 2004 and he remained the member of Parliament from the constituency for three consecutive terms till 2019 when he was defeated by BJP's Smriti Irani.
Rahul Gandhi currently represents the Wayanad constituency in Kerala, from where he had contested in the 2019 Lok Sabha election and also this time.
The Amethi and Raebareli constituencies go to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the seven-phase general elections.
Rahul Gandhi has said earlier that he will follow "whatever order" he gets from his party.
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.
The Congress has forged an alliance with the SP in Uttar Pradesh and is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in the state.
The Lok Sabha polls are being held in seven phases starting April 19. The counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.
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6 women dead, 8 persons injured as bus rams into van in Gujarat's Sabarkantha
Sabarkantha (Gujarat) (PTI): Six women were killed and eight other persons injured after a private bus crashed into a van on a highway in Gujarat's Sabarkantha district on Wednesday, police said.
The van was ferrying women from Modasa in Aravalli district when a speeding bus hit it from behind on National Highway 48 connecting Shamlaji to Himmatnagar in the district, Deputy Superintendent of Police A K Patel said.
According to police, the women were part of a catering team for social events. They were travelling from Modasa in the neighbouring Aravalli district to Hunj village in Himmatnagar to attend a function when they met with the accident.
Six women passengers of the van were killed, Patel said.
Seven other women and the van driver suffered injuries, according to police.
The injured persons were rushed to the Himmatnagar civil hospital. The condition of two of them was critical, the hospital's medical officer, Dr Dhrupad Chauhan, said.
The bodies were sent to a government hospital for a postmortem.
VIDEO | Gujarat: Six persons were killed and four others injured after a private bus rammed into a van on a highway in Sabarkantha district on Wednesday, police said.
— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) April 29, 2026
The van carrying passengers was on its way from Shamlaji to Himmatnagar when the speeding bus hit it from… pic.twitter.com/Gvr79LfCvi
