SP eyes Raebareli, Amethi seats in Lok Sabha polls

Confident after their impressive win in Raebareli and Amethi in the recent Assembly polls, Samajwadi Party leaders now feel that the Nehru-Gandhi fort is no longer ‘impregnable’ and can be won.

Congress was rooted in the Assembly seats in the two Lok Sabha constituencies held respectively by Congress president Sonia Gandhi and party general secretary Rahul
Gandhi.

 This triumph has made SP leaders no longer ‘scared’ of contesting from Raebareli and Amethi Lok Sabha constituencies against Sonia and Rahul. This was reflected in the number of SP ticket seekers from the two constituencies for the 2014 Lok Sabha
polls.

“The results of the recent Assembly polls have proved that the Congress is not as unbeatable as it’s being perceived in Raebareli and Amethi. Many people have applied for tickets from the two constituencies,” said a senior SP leader here.

The Congress had suffered a serious setback in Raebareli and Amethi in the Assembly polls. While it lost all the five Assembly segments in Amethi, it could win only two of the five Assembly seats in Raebareli despite a vigorous election campaign by its star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi.

The leader also said those applying for the tickets have also ‘explained in detail their strategy to emerge victorious’  in the Nehru-Gandhi stronghold.

Demand for tickets

He pointed out that the demand for the tickets from these two seats this time was in sharp contrast to the times when the parties had to make a lot of effort to persuade their leaders to contest from the seats.

The SP has started its preparations for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and had invited applications from the ticket seekers. Those wanting a ticket were also asked to deposit a draft of Rs 10,000 as application fee. So far 900 applications have been received. The party’s coffers have swelled by a whopping Rs 90 lakh from application fee only.

According to SP sources, the number of applications only reflected the growing popularity graph of the party, especially after its resounding victory at the assembly elections.

The party feels there may be mid-term polls following the prevailing uncertainty at the centre.