NEW DELHI, May 14: As he seeks to retain the Rae Bareli seat represented by his mother Sonia Gandhi for two decades, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he has an emotional family relationship with the people and will stand by both Amethi and Rae Bareli whenever required.
He shared an emotional video with his mother on social media, where he is seen watching family pictures in Amethi and Rae Bareli and remembered their connect with the people of both Amethi and Rae Bareli.
Rahul Gandhi is contesting the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha seat and is pitted against BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh, who had unsuccessfully contested the last Lok Sabha election against Sonia Gandhi.
Rahul Gandhi was earlier an MP from Amethi but had lost to Smriti Irani in 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
“Rae Bareli and Amethi are not just constituencies for us, they are our ‘karmabhoomi’, every corner of which is holding the memories of generations.
“Looking at old photographs with my mother, I also remembered my father and grandmother, whose started this tradition of service and was carried forward by me and my mother,” he said in a post in Hindi on X.
“This relationship of more than 100 years old, built on the foundation of love and trust, has given us everything. Whenever Amethi and Rae Bareli calls us, we will be there,” he also said while sharing the video.
In the over 6-minute video, Sonia Gandhi said she started visiting Amethi in 1982 when they used to go there for holding medical camps and several good doctors from Delhi used to always work there and offer help.
“Panditji started this political life with the area in 1921 and a farmer leader Baba Ram Chandra shared his grief with Panditji. Rahul’s grandfather Feroze Gandhi was the MP from Rae Bareli in 1952,” she also said, adding that after his demise, his grandmother Indira Gandhi started representing Rae Bareli.
“We used to visit village to village during weddings or deaths and even visited during floods or drought and visited people during to attend villages. They accepted me immediately and I shared a relationship like a daughter and daughter-in-law,” Sonia Gandhi also said.
Rahul said, “Our family has a relationship of over 100 years with Amethi and Rae Bareli”.
He added that his great grandfather started his politics against the British from Rae Bareli.
For me, Amethi and Rae Bareli are the same and whenever Amethi and Rae Bareli require us, we will be available,” Rahul Gandhi said. (PTI)
