In Raebareli, BJP Fights Hard To Breach Congress' Last UP Bastion
NDTV
Rahul Gandhi is the Congress candidate from the constituency, which the party has lost only thrice since Independence.
In this much-in-the-news Lok Sabha constituency, the Gandhi name is the backdrop against which every political debate takes place -- whether for voters, for the Congress fighting to keep its bastion or for the BJP going all out for a win.
Issues such as the Ram Temple, the Modi factor, the government's free ration scheme, 'pucca' houses for the poor, stray cattle and the Congress' allegation that the BJP will change the Constitution if it returns to power are all part of the election discourse. But the Gandhi factor looms large over it all.
Such has been the Congress' domination that it has lost Raebareli only thrice since Independence - in 1977, 1996 and 1998. Sonia Gandhi represented the constituency for four consecutive terms since 2004 and has now passed on the baton to her son Rahul Gandhi.
