After proclaiming victory in UP’s Amethi, a Congress stronghold, in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Union Minister Smriti Irani has now reached Wayanad to drum up support for BJP candidate K Surendran. The saffron camp is trying to not let Kerala’s Wayanad be a cakewalk for the Gandhi family scion.
As she rallied in support of the BJP candidate, Irani took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi on Thursday and said that after cheating the people of Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi, Rahul Gandhi was readying to do the same in Wayanad. Her comments come a day after the former Congress chief held a massive roadshow in Wayanad from where he is the sitting MP.
“In Amethi, 4 lakh families got toilets for the first time when (Narendra) Modi became Prime Minister. Congress ruled there for 50 years, and 12 people got their homes only after Modi became the Prime Minister. Now, I have heard that they are calling the people of Wayanad their family. They (Congress) cheated the people of Amethi in the name of family, and now they are aiming to do the same in Wayanad,” Smriti Irani said at the roadshow.
Also Read: Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Rahul Gandhi files nomination for Kerala’s Wayanad seat
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections on Wednesday from Wayanad. Before that, he held a roadshow with his sister Priyanka Gandhi, and called the region his “home” and the people his “family”.
Referring to the Opposition-led INDIA alliance, Smriti Irani took another swipe at Rahul Gandhi, saying that if he cannot be accepted as the leader of the bloc, how come he can expect the same in Wayanad.
She also called out Congress for seeking support from the banned outfit Popular Front of India (PFI), and said Rahul Gandhi “creates animosity against Sanatana Dharma”.
“That Muslim League flags were hidden in the Congress party nomination rally yesterday indicates that either Rahul Gandhi is ashamed of getting support from the Muslim League or when he visits North India and visits temples, he will not be able to hide his association with the Muslim League. I am shocked after coming here to Wayanad that even after the ban of a terror outfit like PFI, Rahul Gandhi is taking support from PFI’s political leadership. Every candidate before filing his nomination needs to swear by an oath of allegiance to the Indian Constitution. Rahul Gandhi falsified his oath to the Indian Constitution when he took support from the political leadership of the PFI for his elections,” she told reporters after the Wayanad roadshow.
How Congress lost Amethi?
Amethi, a Congress stronghold, was held by four Gandhis in the past — Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Barring the Congress, the BJP and the Janta Party won the Uttar Pradesh seat twice.
Before the historic victory of Amethi in 2019, Smriti Irani, who had been a Rajya Sabha MP and a minister in the Narendra Modi cabinet, was pitted against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in 2014 as well. Smriti Irani lost to Rahul Gandhi in 2014, falling short by a lakh votes.
The next Lok Sabha elections of 2019, saw Smriti Irani dislodge Rahul Gandhi from the Congress-held seat by 55,000 votes. It was a big victory as the BJP leader had defeated Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in his pocket borough.
However, with Congress assuming the danger of imminent defeat in UP, Rahul Gandhi was fielded from ‘safe’ Wayanad, a Kerala Lok Sabha constituency, established in 2009, that had sent Congress’s MI Shanavas to the Lok Sabha in 2009 and 2014. Smriti Irani was catching up in Amethi, her only seat, Rahul Gandhi filed nominations from Wayanad too.
The Congress scion won from Wayanad with over four lakh votes, defeating CPI leader PP Suneer.
Five years later, ahead of the Lok Sabha elections of 2024, the BJP has renominated Smriti Irani from Amethi. But, there is no news if Rahul Gandhi will contest to reclaim Amethi or the Congress will field another high-profile candidate. Or let its alliance partner, the Samajwadi Party (SP), contest from there.