'Rahul Gandhi should have contested from Varanasi against PM Modi': Former Congress leader Acharya Pramod

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Rahul Gandhi migrated from Amethi. Any other leader in his place, who takes decisions after carefully weighing his credibility and acceptability, would have considered contesting directly against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from Varanasi if he did not wish from Amethi," Acharya Krishnam told news agency ANI in an interview. ALSO READ: How the ‘reluctant’ Rahul Gandhi was persuaded to contest from Raebareli, Congress party's ‘safest’ seat Prime Minister Narendra Modi will contest from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, as a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate.

This is the third time PM Modi is contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Varanasi. He secured major victories during the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha elections from the seat and even surpassed the victory margins of his predecessor and BJP stalwart Murali Manohar Joshi. Acharya Pramod also called Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi a "victim" of "conspiracy in the family and party".

He said, "I said this earlier that Rahul Gandhi will not contest Amethi. I said this, too, that Rahul Gandhi will not let Priyanka Gandhi Vadra fight these elections." ALSO READ: 'Congress has given up on Amethi… a complete fraud on Wayanad': BJP reacts on Rahul Gandhi's Raebareli LS candidature "There is a big conspiracy afoot against Priyanka. She is the victim of a conspiracy hatched by her family and the party," Acharya Krishnam said on Friday.

Krishnam's statement came hours after the Congress declared Rahul Gandhi its candidate from Congress stronghold Raebareli, instead of Amethi, for the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. Acharya Pramod Krishnam was expelled by the Congress for "indiscipline" in February 2024. The Raebareli seat was vacated recently by Rahul's mother Sonia Gandhi, who took membership