As Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra coincided with Union minister Smriti Irani’s ‘Jan Samvad’ in UP’s Amethi on Monday, the focus was back on whether the Congress leader would return to take on his arch nemesis on what was seen as a Gandhi family turf before Rahul’s defeat in 2019.

In a sharp dig at her Amethi predecessor, Irani, the sitting MP from Amethi, said that those who saw the seat as a power centre were today welcomed by empty streets. “The empty streets were the reflection of the anger of the people of Amethi against those who only saw Amethi as a power centre but refused to bring development to its people and businesses,” she said, adding that an investment of Rs 6,523 crore in the UP Investors Summit.

Irani also dared the Gandhi scion to contest against her from Amethi if his party saw him as a tall leader. “Who needs support to come home? If Congress claims that Rahul Gandhi is truly a tall leader, he should leave Wayanad and contest from Amethi on a Congress ticket without the support of the SP or the BSP.”

The minister also trained guns at the Gandhi family after Congress parliamentary party chairperson Sonia Gandhi vacated the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat and filed her nomination for the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan. “After all, if the Gandhi family sees Amethi and Raebareli as their bastion and claims that they have the overwhelming support of the people, why did they have to vacate the Raebareli Lok Sabha seat?” she asked.

Irani’s remarks came as Rahul’s Nyay Yatra arrived in Amethi on Day 37 of its journey on Monday. Rahul Gandhi and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also addressed a public gathering in the constituency and targeted the BJP of conspiring to take revenge from the people of Uttar Pradesh.

“The Congress government approved projects of more than Rs 1,000 crore here (in UP) but most of the projects stayed stuck. Why was the work not started on projects passed by the UPA government under Sonia Gandhi. They (BJP) did not want to work for Amethi and Raebareli. They are conspiring to take revenge on the people of UP,” Kharge said.

The Congress won two Lok Sabha seats from UP in the 2014 general elections — Raebareli and Amethi. In the 2019 elections, the number fell by half as Rahul lost to Irani. With Sonia Gandhi now moving to the Rajya Sabha, all eyes are on whether a Gandhi family member will contest its lost bastions.