LUCKNOW Union minister and BJP MP from Amethi, Smriti Irani, on Friday accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of “insulting” the people of Amethi, saying he had never contested the elections from the constituency alone, but with the help of ‘bicycle’, in an apparent reference to the Samajwadi Party. ‘Bicycle’ is the Samajwadi Party’s election symbol.
“He is the owner of his party, while I am a simple worker of my party,” Irani told media parsons here on reports that the Gandhi scion may contest from Amethi in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
She was on a two-day visit to Amethi to announce a CSR initiative by the largest aircraft manufacturing company, Boeing, to open 100 medical camps in her constituency and inaugurate the industrial units launched by various companies.
“In a democracy, anyone has the right to contest from anywhere. But when he left Amethi and went to south India, he insulted the people of Amethi... which people here have not forgotten,” said Irani.
Asked if she would contest the elections from two places like Gandhi, who contested from Wayanad in Kerala as well as Amethi in 2019, Irani said, “The habit of running away is theirs, not mine.”
Recently, newly appointed UP Congress president Ajay Rai had said that the people of Amethi wanted Rahul Gandhi to contest the election from this constituency and they would ensure his victory by at least five lakh votes. “Irani is roaming around in Amethi, afraid of the news of Rahul’s arrival here,” he claimed.
{{/usCountry}}Recently, newly appointed UP Congress president Ajay Rai had said that the people of Amethi wanted Rahul Gandhi to contest the election from this constituency and they would ensure his victory by at least five lakh votes. “Irani is roaming around in Amethi, afraid of the news of Rahul’s arrival here,” he claimed.
{{/usCountry}}Reacting to Rai’s comment, Irani said over 7,50,000 people receive free grains in Amethi under the double engine government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath. “Does the Gandhi family think that poverty-ridden families will leave their entitlement so that the Gandhi family can succeed,” she asked.
She added, “Does the Gandhi family think that 90,000 families of Amethi who received keys to their own houses for the first time, will abandon their houses so that the Gandhi family can settle there?”
Amethi had been a Gandhi bastion before it fell to Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Rahul Gandhi represented the constituency for three terms before he was defeated by Irani. (Input from PTI)