NEW DELHI, May 4 -- Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's decision to pick Rae Bareli over Amethi boiled down to safety and practicality. He opted for the safer of the two seats, allowing him to campaign nationally without being tied to one constituency.

Party sources told The Sunday Guardian that three things were clear: one that Rahul, who is the de facto face of the Congress party had to contest from one of the two seats that have selected Gandhi family members as Members of Parliament for a long time; two, he had to contest from a Hindi belt seat to ensure that he was not bracketed as a "non-Hindi belt" leader; and thirdly, if Amethi was going to be the choice and not Rae Bareli, it would require allotment of more time and resources which c...