In the heart of Amethi, situated in Uttar Pradesh, the Union Minister and distinguished BJP luminary, Smriti Irani, launched a vehement diatribe against Rahul Gandhi. She audaciously threw down the gauntlet, urging the former Congress chief to partake in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Amethi, eschewing any assistance from the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party.
In a rejoinder to the seasoned Congress stalwart Jairam Ramesh, Irani articulated to the press, “I find solace in Jairam Ramesh’s acceptance of my proposition, asserting that Rahul Gandhi is prepared to engage in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls sans reliance on Samajwadi Party’s luminary Akhilesh Yadav and BSP’s chief Mayawati. I ardently wish for the Congress Working Committee (CWC) to promptly endorse Ramesh’s proposition.”
Irani, identifying herself as a grassroots worker of the BJP, embraced the gauntlet extended by Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh. “I reiterate,” she declared, “given Jairam Ramesh’s pronouncement that Rahul Gandhi is poised to embrace our challenge, the anticipation of our party operatives in Amethi is palpable… It behooves Rahul Gandhi, via the CWC, to make a formal declaration regarding his candidacy from Amethi rather than Wayanad,” added Irani, who had vanquished Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Amethi.
Historically, Amethi was an impregnable bastion of the Congress, specifically the Gandhi dynasty, until the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, when Irani claimed victory. Rahul Gandhi had secured the seat in the 2004, 2009, and 2014 Lok Sabha elections, while his mother, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, triumphed in the 1999 Lok Sabha elections.
The late former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, father of Rahul Gandhi, had clinched victories in the 1984, 1989, and 1991 Lok Sabha elections in Amethi.
Simultaneously, Smriti Irani engaged with the denizens in numerous villages through a public discourse initiative. Irani directed the officials present to methodically address the grievances raised by the constituents, one by one.
