Hope Rahul Gandhi serves the people of Wayanad: Smriti Irani

LUCKNOW: Union minister Smriti Irani told TOI on Friday that the three lakh votes polled for BJP in 2014 spoke to her of their anger and set up her victory over Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the seat on Thursday.
“In 2014, when the people of Amethi spoke through three lakh votes, there was an indication of anger. There was (also an) indication of expectation from BJP,” Irani said.
“I can’t say it was fear.But they knew he was losing. We did many development work here,” Irani said when asked whether she felt Congress had feared her frequent trips to Amethi would give her victory.
“…Narendra Bhai (PM Narendra Modi) in the past five years managed to get so much work done in Amethi. And I also want to complement UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath because due to the consensus between the state and the Centre we could see fast paced development here. Even all the Union ministers contributed, be it the Pipri dam or Amethi bypass road by Nitin Gadkariji, or railway tracks and stations by Piyush Goyal and Manoj Sinha,” Irani added.
Asked about the difference between Rahul’s “chowkidar chor hai” jibe about Modi and her description of the Congress president as “lapata saansad”, she said, “I think we saw a 15-year gap in reforms, especially because they (Congress) did not have a representative in Amethi who could voice the concerns and grievances of the people of Amethi. This became the core issue of Amethi... I wondered why Congress did not pay much attention to the people’s angst even after its drubbing in 2017 UP polls.”
Asked about Rahul’s congratulatory message on her victory, Irani said, “I am grateful that he has congratulated me and I reciprocate the gesture. I hope that he serves the people of Wayanad.”