Irani derides Priyanka for Amethi loss, candidates losing deposits

Union Minister Smriti Irani on Saturday took a jibe at Congress’ Priyanka Gandhi Vadra saying that she created a history of sorts when three party nominees in the recent assembly polls forfeited their deposits in Amethi – a stronghold of her party.

“In the 2022 assembly elections, she created a history by getting three Congress candidates forfeit their deposits in Amethi parliamentary constituency. My congratulations for this,” she ridiculed the party general secretary, without taking her name.

Irani had won the Amethi Lok Sabha seat defeating Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 general elections.

She was visiting her parliamentary constituency on Saturday to cast her vote in the ongoing legislative council polls.

“You see, in the 2019 elections, the Congress got about four lakh votes, but in 2022 it has come down to close to one lakh,” she told reporters. Earlier, Irani took part in Ashtami puja and met people in Kinthawa village to enquire about their problems. She said she had come here eight years ago for the first time on Ashtami as a BJP candidate, and today she was visiting it again to cast vote for a BJP candidate.

The Congress, which has ruled Uttar Pradesh for the longest period of time among political parties but has been out of power for three decades, plunged into further wilderness winning just two seats last assembly election despite Priyanka leading the campaign from the front.

While its seats tally came down to two from seven in 2017, its vote share declined to 2.35 per cent from 6.25 per cent. The two seats it won are Rampur Khas and Pharenda.

The party’s poor show in Amethi and Rae Bareli, which were considered its strongholds not long ago, continued where it failed to get a single seat, its candidates getting a third or fourth spot at most places.