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The article delves into the financial disclosures made by the Congress party to the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding the funding allocated to its candidates for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The focus is on the amount received by Rahul Gandhi, the Congress leader, who contested from two constituencies – Wayanad and Raebareli. The article reveals that Gandhi was given ₹70 lakh each for contesting from both seats, totaling ₹1.40 crore.
Despite winning both constituencies, Gandhi chose to retain his seat in Uttar Pradesh (Raebareli), triggering a by-election in Wayanad. The Congress party has fielded Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as its candidate for the upcoming bypoll. Notably, Gandhi was not the highest-funded Congress candidate. That distinction belonged to Vikramaditya Singh, who received ₹87 lakh from the party fund. Singh contested from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, but lost to Kangana Ranaut, an actor-politician from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The article further highlights other prominent Congress leaders who were allocated significant funds for their campaigns. Besides Gandhi, Kishori Lal Sharma, K C Venugopal, and Manickam Tagore also received ₹70 lakh each. Sharma successfully defeated the BJP's incumbent MP Smriti Irani, while Venugopal and Tagore won their respective constituencies in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Radhakrishna and Vijay Inder Singla, the Congress candidates from Gulbarga in Karnataka and Anandpur Sahib in Punjab, respectively, were also given ₹70 lakh each.
In contrast, senior party leaders Anand Sharma and Digvijay Singh received comparatively lower amounts, ₹46 lakh and ₹50 lakh respectively. However, both lost their respective elections. The article concludes with information about the Congress party's performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, where they secured 99 seats. Rahul Gandhi was subsequently appointed as the Leader of Opposition in the lower house. The article also mentions the recent increase in election expenditure limits for candidates, as recommended by the EC and implemented by the government in January 2022.
Source: Rahul Gandhi got ₹1.40 crore from Congress to contest Lok Sabha polls from Raebareli, Wayanad