Rahul to file nomination from Amethi on April 10; Sonia from Raebareli on April 11

New Delhi, Apr 05: Congress president Rahul Gandhi will file his nomination papers from Amethi Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh on April 10.

While former Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi will file her nomination papers for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections 2019 from Raebareli on April 11. Priyanka Gandhi will be present on these occasions as well.

Amethi and Raebareli in Uttar Pradesh have been Congress bastions for decades now.

In Amethi, it is a contest between Rahul Gandhi and Union Minister Smriti Irani. In the last Lok Sabha polls 2014, she challenged Rahul Gandhi in his bastion and was defeated by a margin of over one lakh votes.

The seat has long been a stronghold of the Congress, which has not been defeated here in three decades - barring in 1998, when the BJP's Sanjay Singh defeated Satish Sharma of the Congress by a margin of 23,270 votes. Amethi was regained by the Congress in 1999 when Sonia Gandhi was elected MP from there.

In Raebareli, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded former Congress leader Dinesh Pratap Singh to take on Sonia Gandhi

Lok Sabha elections are due to start on April 11. The seven-phase polls will end on May 19, with counting slated to take place on May 23.