The last non-Gandhi candidate to contest from Amethi was Satish Sharma in 1998, who lost to the BJP's Sanjaya Sinh. Sonia Gandhi reclaimed the seat in 1999, defeating Sinh by over 3 lakh votes.
Rahul Gandhi reached Amethi with his mother Sonia Gandhi, sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and brother-in-law Robert Vadra for nomination filing, along with former Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot.