Question: Will Rahul Gandhi, a scion of the Congress and the Gandhi family,

Rahul Gandhi, the former national president of the Congress, filed his nomination from the traditional stronghold of the Gandhi family, Rae Bareli, in Uttar Pradesh on Friday. During the nomination filing, he was accompanied by his family members, including Sonia Gandhi, the leader of the Congress parliamentary party, and Priyanka Gandhi, the Congress's national general secretary, along with the party's national president, Mallikarjun Kharge. With this nomination, Rahul Gandhi is contesting elections from two Lok Sabha seats this time.

This is the first time that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has entered the electoral arena from Rae Bareli. Previously, Rahul Gandhi contested elections from the Amethi constituency of Uttar Pradesh and won three consecutive times. However, after losing to Union Minister Smriti Irani in the last election, he has decided to contest from the supposedly easier and his mother Sonia Gandhi's seat this time. Sonia Gandhi has represented the Rae Bareli parliamentary constituency for twenty consecutive years from 2004 to 2024, but she has now been elected to the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan.

Rahul Gandhi is also contesting elections from Wayanad, a coastal district in South India, where voting has already concluded. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Dinesh Pratap Singh, who has been making efforts to win the Rae Bareli seat for many years. Dinesh Singh was once a trusted and close leader of the Gandhi family. Voting in Rae Bareli for the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections will take place on May 20.

According to political pundits, the Congress has strategically fielded Rahul Gandhi from Rae Bareli by giving priority to Priyanka Gandhi, under the assumption that if Rahul Gandhi wins from this safe seat of his family, he may vacate the Wayanad seat, and then his sister could contest and win from there to balance Congress's presence in both North and South India.

At one time, Uttar Pradesh's 85 Lok Sabha seats were dominated by the Congress, and the state has given the country several stalwart leaders of the Congress, including prime ministers. However, over time, due to internal factionalism in the Congress, the rise of regional parties like the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party, the collapse of the Babri Masjid, and the increasing strength of the BJP, especially with Atal Bihari Vajpayee becoming the Prime Minister in 2014 and Yogi Adityanath, a firebrand leader, becoming the Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh witnessed such political storms that many towering personalities also lost their political base.

In such circumstances, the Congress is making efforts to secure its leader Rahul Gandhi's political future by contesting him from the traditional stronghold of Rae Bareli. Establishing the connection of his family's seven-decade-old relationship with Rae Bareli, Rahul Gandhi wrote in his post on social media, "Nomination from Rae Bareli was an emotional moment for me. My mother has entrusted me with the family's bastion with great confidence and given me the opportunity to serve it. Amethi and Rae Bareli are not different for me; both are my family, and I am glad that Kishori Lal, who has been serving the region for forty years, will represent the party from Amethi. In the fight against injustice and for justice currently underway, I seek the love and blessings of my loved ones. I believe that you all stand with me in this fight to save the constitution and democracy."

Meanwhile, the BJP has also planned to encircle Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli. To corner Rahul Gandhi, the BJP will use the same strategy that helped them defeat him in Amethi.

Now the crucial question remains: Will Rahul Gandhi be able to conquer the electoral fortress of Rae Bareli, the traditional stronghold of the Congress and the Gandhi family?