Congress PEC to recommend Priyanka, Rahul for Rae Bareli, Amethi

Lucknow: The Congress Pradesh Election Committee (PEC), which meets here on Sunday, is all set to unanimously recommend the names of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi as the party candidates for the Rae Bareli and Amethi Lok Sabha seats.
The Congress and the Samajwadi Party have reached a seat-sharing agreement for 2024 polls that gives 17 seats to the Congress and 63 seats to the SP. The PEC will, however, shortlist names of party candidates for other seats.
“PEC will meet at 11am on Sunday. We will recommend names for all the seats. The choice of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi will, however, be unanimous. There will be no discussion on their names and the two leaders will be requested to contest the poll from Rae Bareli and Amethi,” said Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) president Ajay Rai.
Deepak Singh, former Congress MLC and senior party leader from Amethi, said the district and state party units have already passed resolutions, urging the two leaders to contest from Rae Bareli and Amethi.
“We will again request Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi to contest the election from Rae Bareli and Amethi respectively,” said Singh, who is also a PEC member.
Uttar Pradesh Congress general secretary Anil Yadav and UPCC spokesman Manish Hindavi said PEC, headed by the UPCC president Ajay Rai, has 39 members, including Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’. In addition, the heads of various frontal organisations are the ex officio members of the committee.
Yadav said All India Congress Committee general secretary (incharge U.P.) Avinash Pandey will also arrive in Lucknow for the PEC meeting and take part in various other programmes at U.P. Congress headquarters here on Sunday.