Congress MP Rahul Gandhi expressed his belief that if his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, had contested from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, she would have defeated Prime Minister Narendra Modi by a margin of two to three lakh votes. Rahul Gandhi made this statement during a public gathering in Raebareli, the Lok Sabha seat he won by a substantial margin in the recent elections.
Rahul Gandhi clarified that his assertion was not rooted in arrogance but rather in the message sent by the people of India to the Prime Minister, indicating their dissatisfaction with his politics. He emphasized that the electorate stood against hatred and violence, as demonstrated by the election results.
Speculation had been rife that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra might make her electoral debut in the recent polls, potentially contesting from Amethi or Raebareli. Ultimately, Rahul Gandhi chose to contest from Raebareli, his family's traditional stronghold, while the Congress fielded KL Sharma from Amethi, where he defeated BJP's Smriti Irani.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi won the Varanasi seat for the third consecutive time, albeit with a reduced victory margin compared to previous elections. While the NDA secured a majority with 293 seats, PM Modi returned for a third term, although the BJP fell short of the majority mark on its own, securing 240 seats. Meanwhile, the Congress improved its performance, winning 99 seats, a significant improvement from its previous showings in 2014 and 2019.
