Who is Kishori Lal Sharma, Cong's candidate in Amethi?

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hailed Sharma's candidature, saying the Gandhi family has had a longstanding association with him.

The Congress on Friday fielded Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat.

Sharma will take on the Bharatiya Janata Party's Smriti Irani.

Sharma was the key person who looked after Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies on behalf of the Gandhis.

Rahul Gandhi, who has been an MP from Amethi thrice, will contest the Lok Sabha election from the Rae Bareli, the constituency held by his mother Sonia Gandhi earlier.

Amethi had been the Gandhi family's stronghold until 2019, when Rahul Gandhi lost the general elections to Irani.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra hailed Sharma's candidature, saying the Gandhi family has had a longstanding association with him.

"Our family has a long-standing relationship with Kishori Lal Sharma ji. He has always been engaged wholeheartedly in serving the people of Amethi and Rae Bareli. His passion for public service is an example in itself," Priyanka Gandhi said in a post on X in Hindi.

"Today, it is a matter of happiness that Shri Kishori Lal ji has been made the candidate from Amethi by the Congress Party. Kishori Lal ji's loyalty and dedication towards his duty will definitely bring him success in this election," the Congress general secretary said.

In the run up to the polls, speculations were rife that Priyanka Gandhi may contest from either Amethi or Rae Bareli.

KL Sharma, a native of Punjab, first came to Amethi as a Congress worker in 1983.

He was closely associated with Congress leader and former prime minister (late) Rajiv Gandhi.

After Rajiv Gandhi's death in 1991, Sharma kept working for the Congress in Amethi.

When the Gandhi family kept away from electoral politics in the 1990s, he campaigned for other Congress candidates.

Kishori Lal Sharma played a key role in Sonia Gandhi's first electoral win in 1999.

Gandhi first entered the Parliament with a victory in Amethi.

After Sonia Gandhi vacated the Amethi seat for Rahul Gandhi in 2004 and moved to Rae Bareli, Sharma moved to the city with her.

The two seats will go to polls on May 20 in the fifth of the seven-phase general election.