"Kharge to decide on Amethi, Rae Bareli seats, annoucement soon," says Jairam Ramesh

New Delhi: Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh on Wednesday said that party chief Mallikarjun Kharge will finalise the candidates for the highly anticipated, Rae Bareli and Amethi Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and the announcement will be made soon.

While addressing a press conference at AICC headquarters in Delhi on Wednesday, Jairam Ramesh said, "CEC has authorized the Congress President for Rae Bareli and Amethi and he will take the decision soon and you will know officially in the next 24 to 30 hours."

Congress held a Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting earlier on April 27 to discuss on the candidates for the remaining seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections.

Sources said that a proposal was given from the UP Congress to the CEC that the Gandhi family should contest the Amethi and Raibareli seats and the decision was left to Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.

Rahul Gandhi lost to BJP's Smriti Irani in Amethi in the 2019 elections, a constituency he had been representing for 15 years.

Earlier on Monday, Union Minister for Women and Child Development Smriti Irani filed her nomination papers for the Amethi Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh and expressed confidence that people will bless the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the elections.

"It is an absolute honour that BJP and the senior leaders of the party have given me the support for my candidature from Amethi. Because of the positive contribution of PM Modi towards Amethi, in the last 5 years in Amethi, 1.14 lakh homes, 4 lakh toilets, 3.5 lakh water connections were provided and 1.5 lakh families received electricity connections...There are many works that PM Modi has helped deliver to the people of Amethi," she said.

On being asked about Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's candidature from Amethi and Raebareli, Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate from Amethi, Smriti Irani said that she can contest against anybody only if there is a candidate against her.

"I don't have a candidate against me, I can only contest if there is a candidate against me, " she said.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi is vying for a second term in Parliament from the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency, having secured a significant victory there during the 2019 elections. So far, the Congress has announced 308 candidates for the seven-phase Lok Sabha election that got underway on April 19.