New Delhi:
With the Congress yet to announce its candidate in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi, sitting BJP MP Smriti Irani has taken a swipe at Rahul Gandhi and his brother-in-law Robert Vadra, claiming that she has generated more work in the constituency in five years than Mr Gandhi did it in 15.
The comments come after Mr Vadra fueled speculation that he could contest the Amethi seat, a Congress stronghold where Ms Irani won in 2019. Amethi will vote in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on May 20.
“Jijaji ki nazar hai, saale sahab kya karenge. (brother-in-law is keeping an eye on the seat, what will he (Mr. Gandhi) do?) There was a time when people traveling in buses left their handkerchief to mark their seats that no one is sitting on it. Rahul Gandhi will also come and mark his seat with a handkerchief because his brother-in-law is eyeing this seat,” she told a gathering in Amethi.
“Has this ever happened? Just 27 days away from the elections, Congress has yet to announce its candidate. What arrogance. What I could do in five years, Rahul Gandhi could not do in 15 years,” Irani added.
Before she defeated Mr Gandhi in the 2019 elections, he represented Amethi for three consecutive terms. The seat was in the past represented by his parents Sonia Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi and uncle, the late Sanjay Gandhi, and was once considered a Congress bastion.
Mr Gandhi, who is contesting from Kerala's Wayanad, was recently asked whether he would also be a Congress candidate in Amethi. “I will do whatever the party tells me to do,” he replied.
Earlier, Mr Vadra created a stir when he said that the people of Amethi feel that if he contests there, “they will have the opportunity to rectify their mistake in choosing Smritiji”. “I am sure they will ensure my victory by a huge margin if I participate,” he said.
Wayanad will vote on April 26 and the last date for filing nomination for the Amethi Lok Sabha seat is May 3. This means that Mr Gandhi can announce his nomination after the Wayanad elections.
Ms Irani's campaign is now in full swing. She has alleged that Mr Gandhi will come to Amethi after April 26 and try to divide people in the name of caste.
“After the voting in Wayanad on April 26, Rahul Gandhi will come here to tell everyone that Amethi is his family and fan the flames of casteism. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress Party have rejected the invitation to Lord Shri Ram's ordination ceremony in Ayodhya, but he will be seen around the temples in Amethi. So be careful and alert,” she said at a local meeting.
Top Congress leaders had skipped the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in January and accused the BJP of turning the Ayodhya temple into a political project.
Ms Irani has claimed that Mr Gandhi never raised issues about Amethi in Parliament and people from the constituency were not even given access to drinking water during his term as MP.