Congress leader Rahul Gandhi makes strong comeback, marching towards winning Wayanad, Raebareli seats in high-octane India’s general polls

Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, who is a part of the powerful Nehru-Gandhi political dynasty that has ruled the Indian political scenario for decades, made a strong comeback by putting up a powerful show in the general elections which was predicted by exit polls to be dominated by the incumbent Bharatiya Janata Party.

Contesting from two constituencies, Gandhi is currently leading in both Wayand and Raebareli sets, ensuring his stronger return to the Indian Lower House.

As per the latest data, Gandhi was leading in Uttar Pradesh’s Raebareli seat by 451,783 votes.

Raebareli assumes political significance since it is historically a Gandhi bastion and before Rahul Gandi, it was his mother Sonia Gandhi who had won the polls from the seat.

Sonia Gandhi, a Congress veteran, has opted out of the Lok Sabha contest by moving to the Rajya Sabha.

Rahul Gandhi’s closest opponent in the seat is BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh.

Rahul Gandhi had previously contested in the Lok Sabha elections from Amethi seat.

He was defeated in 2019 in Amethi by BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani, ending Gandhi’s dominance in the constituency.

Amethi, however, is on the verge of slipping out of the hands of the BJP this time with KL Sharma of Congress taking an over 1 lakh lead against Smriti Irani.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra posted on X: “Kishori Bhaiya, I never had any doubt against you and I always felt from the beginning that you are going to win. I congratulate my brothers and sisters of Amethi.”

In the southern state of Wayanad, Rahul Gandhi is leading with a margin of 313,001 votes against CPI national women leader and Left Democratic Front (LDF) candidate Annie Raja.

After a marathon seven-phase polling which went on for six weeks, the counting of the general election votes has been going on since Tuesday (June 4, 2024) morning.

Proving the exit-polls predictions wrong, which mostly hinted at a landslide win for the saffron brigade, the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA is likely to return to power under the leadership of PM Narendra Modi for the record third straight term, a rare achievement in Indian politics.

The NDA is leading in 295 seats at present, way less than the 400 mark that the alliance had set for themselves before the polls.

“Ab ki bar 400 par (Will win over 400 seats this time),” Modi had repeatedly said in his campaigns during the polls.

The opposition alliance named INDIA, which also included Rahul Gandhi’s Congress, gave a strong fight to the BJP by marching ahead in 230 seats, higher than predicted by exit polls.