The Giant Killer 2.0? Smriti Irani Gets Ticket From Amethi, Once A Gandhi Bastion

the giant killer 2.0? smriti irani gets ticket from amethi, once a gandhi bastion

Smriti Irani, Union Minister and a BJP candidate has been fielded from the Amethi seat which remained a Gandhi family borough for decades. Smriti Irani took over Amethi in the 2019 general elections after defeating sitting MP and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by about 55,000 votes in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Smriti Irani, currently holding the Ministry of Women and Child Development along with the Ministry of Minority Affairs, thanked the party and vowed to maintain the pace of development in Amethi.

“I would like to thank the illustrious Prime Minister of the country, Narendra Modi, the National President, JP Nadda ji and the respected Home Minister Amit Shah. Hearty thanks. In the past years, the double-engine government under the leadership of national servant Modi ji has drawn a long line for the all-around development of Amethi. To maintain this pace of development continuously and to make Amethi leading and self-reliant, every Amethi resident and every BJP worker in Amethi is determined with zeal and enthusiasm,” Irani said in a post on X.

“I have full faith that with the strong public opinion in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of Modi ji, the lotus of good governance, service and poor welfare (lotus) is going to bloom for the third time in the country,” she added.

Last month, the Union Minister performed ‘griha pravesh’ ceremony at her resident in Amethi, fulfilling her promise that she would not be an Amethi MP sitting in Delhi.

Meanwhile, a political face-off was seen when Smriti Irani held a Jan Samwad in Amethi last month and Rahul Gandhi reached his erstwhile constituency as part of his ongoing Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

Notably, the Congress is still undecided on wether Rahul Gandhi will make an attempt at regaining the Congress stronghold specially since Sonia Gandhi has also left Rae Bareili for the Rajya Sabha.

Rahul Gandhi’s loss to Smriti Irani

Amethi has been more than just a constituency for Congress as it has been associated with the party’s bigwigs. It has been a Nehru-Gandhi Bastian since 1967.

Sanjay Gandhi won Amethi in 1980 and after his death, his brother and Rahul Gandhi’s father Rajiv Gandhi won the Amethi seat in 1981. He represented the seat till 1991 until his assassination. Later, Sonia Gandhi represented the seat in 1999 which was then taken over by her son Rahul Gandhi in 2004.

The Gandhi scion represented the seat till 2019, however, in a huge blow to the party, he lost the seat to Smriti Iran over a margin of 55,000 votes.