Can Congress turncoat dent Sonia Gandhi’s tally at Rae Bareli

New Delhi, Apr 04: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Dinesh Pratap Singh against Sonia Gandhi in Rae Bareli, Uttar Pradesh. Singh, incidentally is a former Congress MLC, who had joined the BJP in 2018.

The BJP hopes to dent the Congress vote share in Rae Bareli, which is a Congress stronghold. Singh prior to joining the BJP had been elected as an MLC for the second time in 2016.

The BJP is banking on the local strongman to dent the Congress at Rae Bareli, a constituency that has been represented by Sonia Gandhi since 2004.

Meanwhile the Congress has decided not to field any candidate from Mainpuri, where Samajwadi Party (SP) supremo, Mulayam Singh Yadav is contesting the elections from. The Congress wants to make it a direct battle between Yadav and the BJP's Prem Singh Shakya. The SP has held on to this seat for the past 24 years.

To take on former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav at Azamgarh, the BJP has fielded Dinesh Lal Yadav, a well known Bhojpuri actor and singer. In 2014, this seat was contested by Mulayam Singh Yadav, who won by a margin of over 60,000 votes.

In UP there are 80 Lok Sabha seats and the state would poll in all seven phases starting April 11. Counting of votes will be held on May 23.