Amethi's battle royale: Smriti Irani to take on Rahul Gandhi again
rahul-smriti-split
In this year's Lok Sabha elections, some key political battles will determine the fates of many political bigwigs. Among these is the battle royale in Amethi, a small town but holds big political relevance.
Amethi has been the bastion and Lok Sabha constituency of Congress president Rahul Gandhi since 2004. However, his victory margin suffered a major blow when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded Smriti Irani to take on the Gandhi scion in the 2014 Lok Sabha election from the turf of Nehru-Gandhi family in Uttar Pradesh.
Rahul Gandhi has won three consecutive Lok Sabha elections from Amethi in 2004, 2009 and 2014. While his victory margin in 2004 and 2007 were 2,90,853 and 3,70,198, respectively, it was merely 1,07,903 against Smriti Irani in 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when the BJP was riding on Narendra Modi wave. The close fight showed that Smriti Irani had managed to corner Rahul Gandhi and delivered some crunching blows.
And this year too, the BJP has fielded Amriti Irani from Amethi to take on Rahul Gandhi.
Though Smriti Irani could not win the elections, she made a promise to people of Amethi that she would not turn her back. And since then, the Union minister has been launching a slew of projects and schemes in a bid to turn the fortunes of the people hailing from the Gandhi bastion.
The actress-turned-politician has also been making several trips to Amethi. During one of her visits, in November 2018, Smriti had inaugurated and laid foundation stones of projects of various schemes worth Rs 77 crore. And not just this, the Union minister has promised that by 2022, every family in Amethi will have a house and each household will have electricity.
The Congress, meanwhile, announced that Rahul Gandhi will also contest from Wayanad in Kerala. The announcement gave ammunition to BJP who accused Rahul of running away because he has not fulfilled the promises he made to the people of Amethi. But the Congress president hit back claiming that people in South India "feel hostility" from Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he decided to contest from Wayanad in Kerala to send out the message that he stands with them.
Wayanad district is in the north eastern part of Kerala and houses various tribal groups of the state. The area was badly affected due to last year's floods. The Congress is hoping to further consolidate its position this time in Kerala.
Top Congress leaders have contested from the South earlier as well.
The 2014 Lok Sabha election witnessed a fierce contest in Amethi between Smriti Irani and Rahul Gandhi. And with the BJP deciding to retain her candidature in 2019 as well, it will certainly be one of the most dramatic battles to be fought during the Lok Sabha election.