Lok Sabha elections: Meet Rahul Gandhi's challenger from Rae Bareli

NEW DELHI: All eyes are now on Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli constituency as Congress has fielded star campaigner Rahul Gandhi for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. The Congress leader will be facing BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh.

BJP on Thursday had declared Dinesh Pratap Singh as its nominee for Rae Bareli, a constituency where he previously faced off against Sonia Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and was defeated by a margin of nearly 1.6 lakh votes. He, however, received a total of 38 percent votes, the highest number of votes among all BJP candidates in the history of Rae Bareli.

This time around, with Sonia opting out of the Lok Sabha polls and securing a Rajya Sabha seat from Rajasthan, Rahul has entered the competition that has intensified.

BJP is counting on Singh's strong grassroots connections, particularly at the village and block levels, to bolster its campaign. He has been recognised as a pivotal political figure contributing to the BJP's success in the District Panchayat elections.

He has also been elected as a member of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council thrice in 2010, 2016, and 2022.

Reports suggest that Dinesh has been actively engaging with various segments of the electorate within the constituency for several days, garnering support from local BJP organisational units.

With Dinesh Singh's nomination alongside Karan Bhushan Sharan Singh, BJP has now fielded a total of 13 Rajput candidates. The other 11 include Sarvesh Singh (Moradabad), who has recently passed away, Vishwadeep Singh (Firozabad), Jaiveer Singh (Mainpuri), Rajnath Singh (Lucknow), Devendra Singh (Akbarpur), Pushpendra Singh Chandel (Hamirpur), Lallu Singh (Ayodhya), Kirti Vardhan Singh (Gonda), Jagdambika Pal (Domariyaganj), Neeraj Shekhar (Ballia), and Kripa Shankar Singh (Jaunpur).

BJP has now finalised its candidates for all 75 seats it is contesting. However, its ally, Apna Dal (S), is yet to announce its candidate for Robertsganj, currently represented by its sitting MP Pakauri Lal Kol.

Bareilly will go to polls on May 20, 2024 in the fifth of the seven-phase general elections. The filing of nominations end on May 3.

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