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Smriti Irani files nomination as Yogi Adityanath leads BJP power show in Amethi
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his ministers powered the BJP’s show in the Congress bastion as Irani left the party office in the area and embarked on a road show in a motorised chariot.
A day after Congress president Rahul Gandhi took out a roadshow in Amethi before filing his nomination from the seat, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) powered its own roadshow in the area as Union textile minister Smriti Irani filed her nomination from the constituency on Thursday.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his ministers powered the BJP’s show in the Congress bastion as Irani left the party office in the area and embarked on a road show in a motorised chariot.
The BJP is again banking on Irani, 43, after she managed to reduce Rahul Gandhi’s victory margin from 3.7 lakh votes in 2009 to 1.07 lakh votes in 2014.
In the past, the Congress has lost Amethi only twice — in the 1977 elections and again in 1998.
Before the roadshow, Irani sought the blessings of UP chief minister Adityanath, also the head priest of Gorakhnath Mutt in Gorakhpur. Irani was accompanied by MLAs Rajendra Prasad Singh aka ‘Moti Singh’ (Patti in Pratapgarh), Suresh Pasi (Jagdishpur), Garima Singh (Amethi) and Dal Bahadur Kori (Salon).
Pitching for Irani, Adityanath told supporters that Amethi should “bless” the BJP leader who kept working for the constituency despite losing the election to Gandhi in 2014.”Your local MP didn’t bother to approach me even once. Now, you have to bless her with your vote,” the chief minister said, taking a dig at the Congress chief.
“BJP president Amit Shah has said that we will win more than 73 seats from UP this time. Amethi is going to be the 74th seat. I promise you that my ministers and I would continue to visit you and address your concerns,” Adityanath added.
To counter the Congress’s ‘Rahul Sandesh Yatra’ -- which highlighted the work done by Gandhi in Amethi -- BJP leaders also distributed a booklet, giving details of the initiatives taken up by Irani in the last five years.
BJP’s UP general secretary Govind Narayan Shukla, who coordinated the 3-km roadshow, too expressed confidence about the BJP’s support base in the constituency. He said that between 2014 and now, the party has “really grown in the region.”
