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As the Congress today announced Rahul Gandhi's switch from Amethi - where he lost the 2019 election - to the Raebareli seat vacated by his mother Sonia Gandhi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mocked the Congress leader using his own words.
PM Modi, addressing a rally in Bengal, said Rahul Gandhi had "run away" from Amethi for fear of defeat.
"Today I also want to tell him, whole-heartedly, Daro Mat (don't be afraid), Bhaago Mat (don't run)," the Prime Minister sneered.
Rahul Gandhi has often said, "Daro Mat" while accusing the BJP government of using probe agencies to terrorise critics and political rivals.
PM Modi didn't spare Sonia Gandhi either, saying he had predicted that both mother and son would avoid contesting out of fear.
"I had said, their biggest leader will not dare to contest. She will run away out of fear. She ran to Rajasthan and from there entered Rajya Sabha. That is exactly what happened," he said.
"I had said that shehzade (Rahul Gandhi) is afraid of losing in Wayanad, and the moment voting ends, he will start looking for third seat. Now even from Amethi, despite all his loyalists saying it, he panicked so much, he ran from there and is now looking for the route to Raebareli. These people keep going around telling people Daro Mat. Today I will also tell them... ji bhar ke kehta hoon. Arey daro mat, bhaago mat."
Several BJP leaders described the decision as an admission that Rahul Gandhi can't win Amethi, where Smriti Irani is contesting again after her shock win in the last Lok Sabha election.
"A while ago, Rahul Gandhi used to say 'daro mat, daro mat, daro mat'. Now his fear has taken him from Amethi to Wayanad and from Wayanad to Raebareli - the decision shows where all his fear of defeat is driving him. And the fear is also about whether he could lose both," said Union Minister Anurag Thakur, who is the BJP's candidate from Hamirpur.
"He failed to do right by his sister (Priyanka Gandhi Vadra), as on one hand Robert Vadra was asking for a ticket (to contest from Amethi), and on the other hand, Congress workers wanted Priyanka Gandhi. Yet her name was not on the party's list - that shows something is going on within the Congress party and they should tell the country what it is..."
Another BJP leader, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, said the people of Raebareli would never accept Rahul Gandhi. "BJP is going to win in Raebareli and Amethi by a huge margin. The people of Raebareli will never accept Rahul Gandhi," he said.
Raebareli was held by Sonia Gandhi, who is now a member of Rajya Sabha. As Rahul Gandhi moves to Raebareli, historically one of Congress's safest seats, his rival is the BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh.
In 2019, the BJP's Smriti Irani scored a stunning victory from Amethi, a constituency that had always been loyal to the Nehru-Gandhi family. For Rahul Gandhi, the saving grace was his victory in the second seat he contested - Wayanad.
The Congress has named Kishori Lal Sharma for Amethi. He dismissed the BJP's allegation that the Gandhis opted out of Amethi because they were "scared". "Rahul Gandhi is not someone who runs away from the ground. He is fighting for the whole country," he said.
Both seats will vote in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on Mar 20.
The Congress, which is contesting 17 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh as part of its seat-sharing pact with Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, kept its Amethi and Raebareli announcement virtually for the last minute as top leaders discussed the possibility of Rahul Gandhi fighting from Amethi and Priyanka Gandhi from Raebareli.
"The party requested Rahul to contest from Raebareli and he agreed. For us, Raebareli, Amethi, and Wayanad seats are all dear. Raebareli is the seat which was held by Indira Gandhi and till recently it was held by Sonia Gandhi. At the appropriate time, the party will decide which seat he will retain. The decision when taken will not affect anyone," said Congress leader KC Venugopal.
Wayanad voted on April 26 in the second phase of Lok Sabha polls.
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