BJP’s Amit Malviya Takes ‘Dar Gaya’ Jibe at Rahul Gandhi Over Amethi Exclusion in Congress’ First List – News18

BJP leader Amit Malviya on Friday sarcastically asked if Rahul Gandhi was “scared” after the Congress party didn’t include the expected Amethi seat in their first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

“Rahul Gandhi won’t contest from Amethi? डर गया?,” wrote Amit Malviya, the head of BJP’s IT cell, in his social media post on X.

Malviya’s comments coincided with the Congress’s release of the first list of 39 candidates on Friday, which notably left out candidates for Uttar Pradesh. The Congress list didn’t include names for Rae Bareli or Amethi. Rahul Gandhi, who served as the representative of Amethi in Parliament from 2002 until 2019, faced defeat in the 2019 election against BJP’s Smriti Irani.

In another post, Malviya questioned the control over the Congress candidate list, wondering if Mamata Banerjee was influencing it. He also pointed out the ‘lack of confidence’ ahead of the big election.

“Who is controlling the list of Congress candidates? Mamata Banerjee? Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, who won Baharampur, in both 2014 and 2019, not named in the first list. He was the Leader of Opposition in LS! The Congress first list shows lack of confidence before the big election…,” Malviya wrote.

Malviya criticised the nomination of DK Suresh, the brother of Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivkumar, by the Congress for Bangalore Rural. Malviya pointed out that Suresh had advocated for a ‘separate’ South India.

“DK Suresh, brother of Karnataka DCM DK Shivkumar, who called for a ‘separate’ South India, has been given a ticket, again, from Bengaluru Rural. India’s balkanisation is Congress’s unfinished agenda. Beware of them,” he stated.

On Friday, the Congress party announced the first list of 39 candidates, including Rahul Gandhi, who will contest from Wayanad. The list also features former Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, AICC general secretary KC Venugopal, and Thiruvananthapuram MP Shashi Tharoor.

“The Congress Election Committee met yesterday and selected 39 candidates in its first list of (Lok Sabha) candidates. The list includes names of Rahul Gandhi and Bhupesh Baghel,” Venugopal said during a press conference. Of the 39 candidates, 15 are from the general category and 24 are from ST/SC/OBC and minority backgrounds.