Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday conceded defeat in Amethi after trailing in the Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh. BJP’s Smriti Irani won seat that’s been a Congress bastion for decades.
In a press conference, Gandhi congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his win. He also asked Smriti Iran to “take care of Amethi with love”.
Irani, in 2014, had put up a good fight, reducing Gandhi’s margin of victory from 3.70 lakh votes in 2009 to 1.07 lakh votes.
The Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party (SP-BSP) alliance did not field a candidate in Amethi.
In 2004, when Rahul Gandhi contested Amethi for the first time, he received 66% of the votes cast in the constituency. In 2014, his vote share was reduced to 46.71% while the BJP shot up to 34.48%.
Irani, who mounted a vigorous campaign in 2019, had accused Rahul Gandhi of not spending enough time in Amethi.
Rahul Gandhi, also contesting from Wayanad, won from constituency in Kerala with a margin of over 5.3 lakh votes.
His decision to run from Wayanad ticked off the Left Parties, which said that he was fighting the Left Democratic Front coalition instead of the BJP.
BJP president Amit Shah said that Gandhi was contesting a relatively safe second seat because he was afraid of losing from Amethi.
Congress insiders say that if Rahul Gandhi had won both seats, he may have pulled out of Amethi, which would lead to a by-poll that his sister, Priyanka Gandhi, could contest.