‘Rahul will fight from Amethi if he & party decide’ – Congress retorts to Smriti Irani’s dare

‘Rahul will fight from Amethi if he & party decide’ – Congress retorts to Smriti Irani’s dare

New Delhi: The Congress Tuesday hinted at the possibility of Rahul Gandhi contesting from Amethi, asserting the people of the constituency wanted him back. The party, however, put a caveat, saying Gandhi would contest from Amethi only if he wanted to and if the party’s central election committee (CEC) accepted that decision.

On the sidelines of the ongoing “Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra”, which is currently passing through Uttar Pradesh, Congress communications head Jairam Ramesh said the people of Amethi have realised that they made a mistake in 2019 – when they voted to elect BJP’s Smriti Irani to the Lok Sabha instead of Gandhi who had won the seat in three previous elections. Gandhi lost to her by 55,000 votes. He, however, won from a second seat, Wayanad in Kerala.

Ramesh added, “If Rahul Gandhi decides to contest elections from here (Amethi), and the CEC accepts the proposal, he will contest the elections. I spoke to a lot of people. People are saying they made a mistake in 2019 and that Rahul bhaiya would win if contested this time.”

His comments came on the heels of Amethi MP and Union Minister Smriti Irani daring the former Congress president to contest in Amethi without any help from INDIA bloc ally Samajwadi Party.

Both Irani and Gandhi were in Amethi Monday, the former on a tour of her constituency and the latter leading the “Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra”.

Reacting to Irani’s challenge, Ramesh said, “It is her democratic right to challenge… We are not running away from any challenge. They can’t suppress our voice.”

Meanwhile, a delegation of the Congress’ Amethi unit is set to meet Gandhi after the conclusion of the yatra Tuesday, ThePrint has learnt.

“As of now, there is no indication from the central leadership on whether Rahul will fight Lok Sabha polls from Amethi. But a delegation will meet Rahul ji today. They might propose for Rahul to fight again from this seat,” said a senior Congress leader from the state. He added that the response in Amethi to the yatra was “humongous”, despite no plans by the party to gather as many people.

(Edited by Tikli Basu)