'Italy, Pakistan, Varanasi': BJP leaders suggest poll alternatives as Congress fields Rahul Gandhi from Raebareli

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Pakistan, some others mocked, saying he should fight elections from Italy. On Sunday, Rajasthan BJP MLA Swami Balmukundacharya said Rahul Gandhi should contest elections from from his "maternal home" in Italy. "He must visit his maternal home and contest the elections there.

There is no other option left. The situation of Congress and Rahul Gandhi is bad...," he told news agency ANI. Rahul's mother and Congress heavyweight Sonia Gandhi was born in a small village near Vicenza, Italy.

Earlier, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma claimed that Gandhi will win in Pakistan if elections are held there but in India, victory will be of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Rahul Gandhi is very popular in Pakistan and if elections are held there and he contests those, he will win by a huge margin, there is no doubt about it," Sarma said on the sidelines of a rally in Barpeta Lok Sabha constituency. ALSO READ: Congress is dying & Pakistanis are crying’; Pak leaders want Congress 'shehzada' as India's PM: Modi in Gujarat "We lift our hands in surrender that we cannot match Rahul Gandhi in Pakistan and he will definitely win there," the CM said, sarcastically.

Sarma's statement came after a former minister in Imran Khan's cabinet in Pakistan, Chaudhry Fawad Hussain, shared a video featuring Gandhi on his social media handle and praised him. "Rahul on fire...," he had captioned the video. Former Congress leader Pramod Krishnam also said that he thinks "Rahul Gandhi should contest from Rawalpindi instead of Raebareli, as his popularity and demand are increasing in Pakistan." Krishnam also suggested that Rahul Gandhi could have contested against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi if he did not want to contest from Amethi.