Smriti Irani's frequent visits to Amethi paid off, says BJP

NEW DELHI: Union minister Smriti Irani who won Amethi by a margin of over 45,000 votes, becoming the first from BJP to beat a Congress president, described it as a victory of a dedicated karyakarta over “those who look with condescension towards society”.
Amethi, a Congress stronghold since 1967, was the launchpad for Rajiv Gandhi in 1981and Sonia in 1999; earlier Sanjay Gandhi made his Lok Sabha debut from the seat in 1980.
This is the third time Amethi has elected a BJP candidate though. Sanjay Sinh won as BJP candidate in 1998-99 and Sanjay Gandhi lost to Janata Party’s Ravindra Pratap Singh in 1977. Rahul is the second Gandhi to lose from Amethi.
Many in BJP on Thursday said it was Irani’s persistence and repeated visits to ensure development work in Amethi that swayed voters.
Analyst JP Shukla said, “Smriti made the best use of Rahul’s absence in her ‘Lapata Saansad’ campaign. She also took advantage of Rahul’s decision to contest from two seats and called him ‘bhagoda saansad’.”
In the build-up, Smriti stayed in a rented house in Gauriganj. Between 2014 and 2019, she made visits to distribute saris, shoes, clothes and textbooks in villages. Her big moment came in March 2019 when PM Narendra Modi came to Amethi to lay the foundation of an AK-47 rifle factory.
Disenchantment of young voters with Gandhis is believed to have impacted the verdict. “Elders still feel for Indira, Rajiv and Sonia, but the youth doesn’t care for the so-called charisma of Rahul and Priyanka,” said S K Barnwal, a local businessman. Congratulating Smriti, Rahul said: “Main unse yahi kahunga ki woh pyaar se Amethi ki dekhbhaal karein… ”