Rahul Gandhi held the seat for two consecutive terms between 2004 and 2014. The seat was previously held by Rahul's mother Sonia and uncle Sanjay; so there came the reputation of Amethi being a Gandhi family borough. Irani, after her victory shattered this belief.
Irani first contested Amethi in 2014 when Modi won his first term in office. She lost to the Congress party's Rahul Gandhi by over 100,000 votes but still secured over 34 per cent of overall votes polled. In comparison Rahul got 46 per cent of overall votes polled, in a steep fall from his nearly 72 per cent vote share in 2009.
To Irani's credit, she continued reaching out to the residents of Amethi even after her 2014 loss. As a political worker of the BJP, she emerged as the 'didi' (elder sister) for her local colleagues. Despite holding crucial cabinet portfolio(s) during Modi's first term in office, Irani's Delhi to Amethi connect kept her grounded to the constituency's political realities.
Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi by over 55,000 votes, securing nearly 50 per cent of total votes polled. After her victory, Irani took to social media to post Dushyant Kumar's poem: 'Kaun kehta hai aasman mein surakh nahi ho sakta' (Who says you can't pierce through the sky). The result pierced through the skyline of Indian politics, giving Irani a distinguished place in Indian political history. (Next slide has a Game of Thrones spoiler, you've been warned.)
It was the month of the Game of Thrones finale when Modi secured a second term in office. Irani's 2019 win was compared with Arya Stark killing off the Night King in 'The Long Night' episode of Game of Thrones. It became a rare intersection of pop and politics on the internet. In history books, it became a chapter to be studied and revised for the foreseeable future.