Lok Sabha elections 2024: ‘Congress will win big in Amethi and Raebareli’

MidDay spent two days in Amethi and Raebareli the strongholds of the Congress party to gauge the mood of the voters ahead of the polls today The politically highprofile constituencies present contrasting voter sentiments In Amethi voters appear divided between the current MP Smriti Irani and Congress loyalist K L Sharma Conversely Raebareli shows a clear wave of support for Rahul GandhiSome voters in Amethi feel that the districtrsquos profile has diminished because Rahul Gandhi is not contesting from there While there is a historical connection with the Gandhi family dating back to Rajiv Gandhirsquos era some believe Smriti Irani should be given a second term to complete her work However there is also dissatisfaction among voters regarding Iranirsquos unfulfilled promise to provide sugar at Rs 13kg in 2019Additionally some voters believe that development in Amethi has stalled due to the highprofile candidates contesting from there They feel that while politicians make grand promises they often fail to deliver and Amethi has not received the attention it deserves despite its prominent representation Amethi should be known for its development works instead of its highprofile candidatesBJP candidate Smiriti Irani at an event in AmethiHausla Prasad Sharma a 50yearold arts graduate lost his job during the lockdown He used to earn Rs 32000 per month and now drives an autorickshaw for his livelihood ldquoCOVID19 has destroyed so many lives and I am one of those affected The government in UP and at the Centre didnrsquot do anything to help The unemployment in UP paper leaks and stray cattle are the biggest issues in entire UPAmethi gave the BJP a chance by moving away from Congress and defeating a candidate like Rahul Gandhi to send a message that performance matters over family legacy However the BJP candidate Smriti Irani also failed to deliver I sense that people in Amethi are now shifting back to Congress by a large marginrdquoA shopkeeper near the Congress office in Amethi who wished to remain anonymous said ldquoAmethi bears the burden of big politicians It is known only for their names but it should be known for their work Despite having highprofile leaders no significant work is done The people of Amethi now want development rather than highprofile candidates We hope that K L Sharma who is not highprofile will bring changes to Amethi and we may consider giving him a chancerdquoRam Bharose 70 a former Pradhan of a village in Amethi met with midday at a tea stall He has known Amethi since the era of Indira Gandhi and claims that Amethi has changed a lot ldquoDuring Rajiv Gandhirsquos era we had VIP status Whenever we visited Delhi there was no queue for the people of Amethi we could meet Rajiv Gandhi directly Despite all this we chose change in 2019 Smriti Irani has done some good work particularly with the roads but I think the atmosphere now favours Rahul Gandhi Had he been contesting from Amethi he would have won by a huge margin However with K L Sharma as the candidate people are confusedrdquoAnother voter from Amethirsquos Gauriganj area Shiv Prasad who runs a tea shop said ldquoIn five years we have not seen our MP There are several issues in Amethi the stray cattle are the biggest problem We are unable to farm and acres of land remain unused due to the stray cattle but the government is neglecting this issue because of their political agenda This is going to cost them big in UP and Amethi Rahul Gandhi who lost Amethi in 2019 also forgot the people here and rarely visited after his defeat However people might vote for him again because of their old connection with his fatherrdquoAnother voter Shivdarshan from Amethi said ldquoThe people voted in the name of PM Modi and again we may vote in his name but the candidates are not doing any work We are still waiting to get sugar at Rs 13 per kghellip only false promises were made to usrdquoA Muslim voter from Amethi claimed that the current MP Smriti Irani never visited the Muslim areas in Amethi and that they were neglected ldquoWe also voted for her but she didnrsquot come to meet us after winning The BJP people make hateful statements against us instead of focusing on real issues The stray cattle are troubling not only Muslims but the whole of UP Farmers canrsquot do anything and the youth donrsquot have jobs We are going to vote wisely this timerdquoSimilarly the adjacent Lok Sabha seat to Amethi is Raebareli where Rahul Gandhi is contesting after his mother Sonia Gandhi vacated the seat for him and moved to the Rajya Sabha Sonia Gandhi was the MP from 2004 to 2019 and Indira Gandhi also represented the same seat Raebareli is known as a stronghold of the Congress party The voters in Raebareli seem very excited since Rahul Gandhirsquos candidacy was announced They believe that the next prime minister will be from RaebarelildquoThere is no fighthellip Rahul Gandhi is winning the seat with a huge margin The people of Raebareli always vote for Congress even during their worst in 2014 and 2019 Now Rahul is fighting so the results clearly will be in his favour I donrsquot understand why Priyanka Gandhi is spending so much time in Raebareli She should focus on some other seatsrdquo said Ram Marak a shopkeeper in RaebareliAnother voter from Raebareli Dev Sarak said that the current UP government led by Yogi Adityanath is doing great work in the state but issues like stray cattle unemployment and paper leaks are going to cause significant damage ldquoRaebareli has always remained a Congress bastion and since Rahul Gandhi is contesting no one else is in the racerdquo he addedVoicesHausla Prasad SharmalsquoThe unemployment in UP paper leaks and stray cattle are the biggest issues in entire UP Amethi gave the BJP a chance by moving away from Congress and defeating a candidate like Rahul Gandhi to send a message that performance matters over family legacy However the BJP candidate Smriti Irani also failed to deliver I sense that people in Amethi are now shifting back to Congress by a large marginrsquoRam BharoselsquoDuring Rajiv Gandhirsquos era we had VIP status Whenever we visited Delhi there was no queue for the people of Amethi we could meet Rajiv Gandhi directly Despite all this we chose change in 2019 Smriti Irani has done some good work particularly with the roads but I think the atmosphere now favours Rahul GandhirsquoShiv PrasadlsquoIn five years we have not seen our MP There are several issues in Amethi the stray cattle are the biggest problem We are unable to farm and acres of land remain unused due to the stray cattle but the government is neglecting this issue because of their political agenda This is going to cost them big in UP and AmethirsquoRam MaraklsquoThere is no fighthellip Rahul Gandhi is winning the seat with a huge margin The people of Raebareli always vote for Congress even during their worst in 2014 and 2019 Now Rahul is fighting so the results clearly will be in his favour I donrsquot understand why Priyanka Gandhi is spending so much time in Raebareli She should focus on some other seatsrsquo