"Congress has conceded defeat in Amethi...": Smriti Irani on Rahul Gandhi contesting from Raebareli

Amethi: After Rahul Gandhi was named by the Congress as its candidate from Raebareli Lok Sabha seat, Union Minister and BJP's candidate from Amethi, Smriti Irani on Friday said that Congress has conceded defeat from the constituency even before a vote was cast, adding that the opposition party would not have fielded a "proxy candidate" (Kishori Lal Sharma) if they were hopeful about the outcome of the polls.
"I welcome the guests to Amethi. The fact that the Gandhis are not fighting in Amethi shows that even before a vote has been cast, they are losing from Amethi. If they had seen even a glimmer of hope, they would have contested and not put up a proxy candidate," Smriti Irani told reporters in Amethi.
Smriti Irani said that Rahul Gandhi's candidature from Raebareli is a "victory" for the people in Amethi.
"There has been great development in Amethi...if this much has been accomplished in 5 years out of which two years were lost to the battle against Covid, then why was it not done for 50 years in Amethi by the Gandhi family? I want to assure the people of Amethi that the Modi government will return, and we will continue to work for people here, with development being the centre of our focus. Today before a vote has been cast, history has been made. I am grateful to the people of Amethi. Today is the victory of the people of Amethi," Irani said.
Irani recalled Prime Minister Narendra Modi's remarks about "Congress waiting for elections to conclude in Kerala" so that a safe seat could be announced for Rahul Gandhi later.
"PM Modi had already warned the public that Rahul Gandhi will look for a new seat once voting concludes in Wayanad. Congress leadership is going away from the battlefield," she said.
Rahul is pitted against the BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh in Raebareli. He currently represents Wayanad in the Lok Sabha, while Smriti Irani is bidding for a fresh term from Amethi.
Raebareli was held by Sonia Gandhi, who became a member of the Rajya Sabha. The Congress party has also named Kishori Lal Sharma, a party loyalist from Amethi, the seat Rahul Gandhi lost in the 2019 general elections to BJP leader Smriti Irani.
The Congress party has also named Kishori Lal Sharma, a party loyalist from Amethi, the seat Rahul Gandhi lost in the 2019 general elections to BJP leader Smriti Irani.
Meanwhile, KL Sharma filed his nomination from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat.
Sonia Gandhi contested elections from here in 1999 before passing the baton on to Rahul in 2004. Irani had earlier filed her nomination as the BJP candidate for Amethi.
Both seats are going to polls in the fifth phase on May 20. Rahul represented Amethi in the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2019. His father and former Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, too, was an elected member of Amethi in the Lower House from 1981 till his death in 1991.
The party has won the Congress bastion in all but three Lok Sabha elections since 1951. Before Sonia Gandhi, former Indira Gandhi had won from Raebareli three times. The constituency also elected Indira's husband and Congress leader, Feroze Gandhi, twice, in 1952 and 1957. A member of the Nehru-Gandhi family has not contested the seat just twice, in 1962 and 1999.