I am forever grateful: Smriti Irani after crushing defeat in Amethi
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New Delhi: Union minister Smriti Irani is left to brood over most humiliating of all failures in the Lok Sabha polls after losing to Congress candidate in Amethi.
Five years ago she emerged as a star wresting the constituency from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, putting the grand old party in the spot.
In the 2024 polls, Rahul Gandhi pulled off a record victory in Raebareli after taking over the constituency from his mother Sonia Gandhi.
Now Smriti Irani is reeling from a crushing defeat in one of the key prestige battles in this Lok Sabha election.
However, after results came out she thanked those who stood by her through thick and thin.
"Such is life... A decade of my life going from one village to another, building lives, nurturing hope & aspirations, working on infrastructure - roads, naali, khadanja, bypass, medical college and more. To those who stood by me through loss and victory, I am forever grateful. To those celebrating today, congratulations. And to those asking, 'How's the josh?' I say- it's still high, Sir," she wrote on X.
When asked earlier during campaign about the prospect of facing Rahul Gandhi or his sister as candidate in the constituency, she reacted "whoever comes will be defeated surely", according to NDTV.
But the Congress in an astute move placed in the fray KL Sharma who is a Gandhi family loyalist and locally well connected.
KL Sharma won the poll with a margin of more than 1.6 lakh votes, which is three times her margin in 2019 when she defeated Rahul Gandhi.
Sharma is known to have in-depth knowledge of the constituency and has deeper grassroots connections with party workers and people.
During the campaigning, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said Sharma had been associated with Amethi for the last 40 years, adding ‘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.’
While Rahul Gandhi represented Amethi for three terms, his uncle Sanjay Gandhi held it once and later it was handed over to his Rajiv and Sonia Gandhi, according to NDTV.