Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday shared a video showing him and his mother Sonia Gandhi looking at their old family pictures and remembering their visits to family bastions Raebareli and Amethi in Uttar Pradesh.
Mr Gandhi, who the Congress has fielded to defend the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat, shared a six-minute-long video on his official X account and said, “Raebareli and Amethi are not just constituencies for us, they are our karmabhoomi (a place where one performs their actions and duties), every corner of which holds the memories of generations.”
“This relationship (with Raebareli and Amethi) more than 100 years old, built on the foundation of love and trust, has given us everything. Whenever Amethi and Rae Bareli call us, we will meet them there,” he wrote.
While looking at the old photographs, Mr Gandhi also remembered his father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and grandmother Indira Gandhi, who was the country’s first and, to date, the only female prime minister.
In the video, the two can be seen looking at a picture of Rajiv Gandhi on a jeep, to which Rahul said that he remembers that his father “always used to drive it”.
When Sonia Gandhi First Visited Raebareli
In the video, Rahul Gandhi asked Sonia Gandhi when she first visited Raebareli, a Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh that she held since 2004 before shifting to Rajya Sabha this year.
She told Mr Gandhi that she started visiting Raebareli in 1981-1982 when they used to go there to hold medical camps. “Several good doctors from Delhi used to work there and offered help,” she said.
“We used to visit several villages during weddings or deaths and also visited them during floods and droughts. They accepted me immediately and I shared a relationship like a daughter and daughter-in-law,” Mrs Gandhi said.
रायबरेली और अमेठी हमारे लिए सिर्फ चुनाव क्षेत्र नहीं, हमारी कर्मभूमि है, जिसका कोना कोना पीढ़ियों की यादें संजोए हुए है।
मां के साथ पुरानी तस्वीरें देखकर पापा और दादी की याद भी आ गयी, जिनकी शुरू की गयी सेवा की परंपरा मैंने और मां ने आगे बढ़ाई।
प्रेम और विश्वास की बुनियाद पर… pic.twitter.com/9RKgGG8qjb
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) May 14, 2024
They also spoke about the 100-year relationship of the Gandhi family with Amethi and Raebareli.
Rahul’s grandfather, Feroze Gandhi, was a Member of Parliament from Raebareli in 1952, and after his death, Indira Gandhi started representing the constituency.
‘Rajiv Gandhi Transformed Amethi’
Speaking about Amethi, Rahul Gandhi said that in 1982, his father, Rajiv Gandhi, went to the constituency and did a lot of development work.
“When my father went there, he worked hard and initiated a lot of development work and transformed Amethi completely,” he said.
“In Raebareli, my grandmother had initiated a lot of development and it was ahead of Amethi. But, when my father went to Amethi, he ushered in a lot of developmental works, and then it looked as if Amethi is ahead of Raebareli,” he added.
Speaking about his plan for Raebareli, he said that he wants to connect it with the entire country and open up manufacturing units there.
“I would also want to set up a food processing unit there,” Mr Gandhi said.
“I also want to hear out the hearts of the people of Rae Bareli and act on it. The works done by my grandmother and mother in Rae Bareli, I want to take that forward,” he added.
