According to media reports, Congress Party’s President, Rahul Gandhi is no longer confident about retaining Amethi as the party is now looking for alternative constituencies for the Gandhi scion to contest from. The news came days after the Union Textile Minister, Smriti Irani, warned that the Congress President would lose if he contested the upcoming general election from the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency.
Earlier, in 2014, Smriti Irani had lost the seat in Amethi to Rahul Gandhi. Not to forget that the Gandhi scion has been fighting over the Amethi seat since 2004 and rose victorious in all the Lok Sabha elections till now; but it appears that things are going to be different this time. Sources also claimed that apart from Amethi, Rahul Gandhi may contest the elections from Nanded in Maharashtra and Chhindwara in Madhya Pradesh.
Interestingly, both the other seats appeared to be secured as Nanded is the Lok Sabha constituency of former Congress CM, Ashok Chavan, and Chhindwara of the incumbent CM of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath. When The Times of India asked Ashok Chavan for a comment regarding speculations around Rahul’s candidature from the Nanded seat, he stated that Rahul Gandhi is party president and can fight elections from wherever he wants. “If he chooses to contest from Nanded, he would be most welcome,” he added. Moreover, Chhindwara is Kamal Nath’s seat in the Parliament and he will vacate the seat soon to become the MLA in order to serve his term as the CM of MP.
However, Rahul Gandhi’s fear is not totally unreasonable. Though the Union textiles minister could not win over the constituency in the 2014 general election, she has continued to make efforts in order to connect with the people of Amethi. It is ironic that while Rahul Gandhi, who was elected by the people of Amethi, is oblivious to the problems faced by the people living in his constituency, on the other hand, union minister, Smriti Irani, who had lost from Amethi, is working hard for the upliftment of its people. Rahul Gandhi has been on vacation for most of the time and does not seem to be interested in working for the development of Amethi.
A noteworthy fact here is that in 2014 Rahul Gandhi registered a win in Amethi at a time when the entire nation had discarded the Congress. But, Rahul Gandhi has remained ungrateful and has done absolutely nothing for the people of Amethi, which still remains one of the most backward constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. One must keep in mind that Smriti Irani had put up a tough fight against the Gandhi scion on one of the Congress’ stronghold seats. Smriti Irani’s campaigns have also exposed the hypocrisy of the Gandhi family and shown that Amethi has been reposing its faith in the wrong hands for decades only to be rewarded with betrayal.
In the last four and half years, Smriti Irani has helped the people of Amethi and has struck a chord with its people, something that Rahul Gandhi has failed to do in the last 15 years. Given Rahul Gandhi’s irresponsible and condemnable conduct since the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and the manner in which Smriti Irani is working for the constituency, despite having lost the previous elections, it is very likely that the people of Amethi may prefer Smriti Irani over the Congress President in the election to come.