Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha Elections 2024: Union Minister and BJP MP from Amethi, Smriti Irani has said that she could have won Amethi in 2014 also but Mulayam Singh Yadav saved Rahul Gandhi.
It is known that Sonia Gandhi had sought Mulayam Singh Yadav's help in 2014 to save Rahul Gandhi in Amethi. The then chief of Samajwadi Party revealed that they transferred 1 lakh votes to Congress and that is how Rahul Gandhi won the election, Smriti Irani said in an exclusive conversation with India TV.
"When I was fielded by the party in 2014 to contest the election from Amethi, only 22 days had left for the polls, it was a challenge, everyone said that it was a political suicide to contest during Samajwadi Party's rule in Congress' stronghold but we got over 3 lakh votes.
In 2019, for the first time, Rahul Gandhi was defeated and it was a historic moment for a common worker like me and also when I was included in the Modi cabinet.
Reacting to Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's old statement when she said Smriti 'who?', the Amethi MP said that the Gandhi family is known for their ego which has distanced them from the ground reality.
Smriti Irani hit out at Gandhis saying if they can humiliate their own daughter-in-law, Maneka Gandhi, then who am I.
Recalling the 2014 election, Smriti Irani said that there were no BJP workers in 60 per cent of polling booths back then but today we have around 45 workers each on 1,900 polling booths in Amethi.
Smriti Irani further slammed the Gandhi family and said that in the 1989 election in Amethi, when Rajiv Gandhi was the party's chief, the Congress looted 97 polling booths. There is also an article on it in the New York Times.
For Gandhis, parivaar (family) is a political instrument, Irani said.
Speaking about the work done by the BJP in Amethi, Smriti Irani said that they have built over 1 lakh houses for the poor, why Congress couldn't do it. In the last 5 years, we have built 4 lakh toilets in Amethi why Rahul Gandhi failed to do it in 15 years. Amethi, today houses the largest plant of Coca-Cola in Asia.
Smriti Irani slams Congress on caste politics, quota to Muslims, Sandeshkhali
Smriti Irani targeted the 'Grand Old Party' saying our Constitution says that you cannot give reservation on the basis of religion so why don't Congress take a clear stand on it.
Why Congress is silent on the Sandeshkhali incident? The people understood their intentions when they stood with 'tukde-tukde' gang, she said.
Smriti Irani further slammed Rahul Gandhi and asked why did he insult Amethi, north India during a public address in South India, creating a North-South divide.
On Rahul Gandhi's eradicating poverty 'Khatakhat, TakaTak & Thakathak' remark, Smriti Irani asked he was MP from Amethi for 15 years, so why couldn't he do it here.
Why Rahul Gandhi talks about bringing back Article 370, where is I.N.D.I.A bloc in Uttar Pradesh, have we seen them campaigning together besides a press conference in Ghaziabad, Smriti asked.
Smriti Irani on NDA's 400-paar
Smriti Irani said that in Uttar Pradesh, lotus will bloom in all the 80 seats which will help us get through our 400-plus target in the Lok Sabha elections.
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