Union Minister Smriti Irani Trails In Amethi, Congress Candidate Leads

New Delhi: Union minister Smriti Irani, who unseated Congress’s Rahul Gandhi from his family bastion Amethi, is trailing in the massive prestige battle raging there this year. The Congress candidate, Gandhi family loyalist KL Sharma, is leading by over 28,000 votes.

While the lead is slender, it could be part of the big surprise Uttar Pradesh has packed in this election. Around 11 am, the INDIA bloc — comprising Samajwadi Party and the Congress in the state — held a slender lead over the NDA in an epic neck and neck fight.

This time, Rahul Gandhi left Amethi to Mr Sharma, and chose to take up his mother Sonia Gandhi’s mantle in Raebareli, where he is leading by over 60,000 votes.

As the representative of the Gandhi family in the two Uttar Pradesh bastions, Mr Sharma is said to know both constituencies like the back of his hand. He also has a better ground connect — with party workers and the people.

Giving her endorsement to the party choice, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, while campaigning for Mr Sharma in Amethi, had said, “He (Sharma) has been associated with Amethi for the last 40 years. He was associated with my father (Rajiv Gandhi) here. He also worked with my mother (Sonia Gandhi) and my elder brother Rahul Gandhi. He has dedicated his entire life to Amethi”.

The Congress is still smarting from the BJP victory of 2019, when MP Rahul Gandhi lost to Ms Irani after representing Amethi for three terms. The constituency was once held by Rahul Gandhi’s uncle Sanjay Gandhi and later his parents Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi.