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Union Minister and BJP candidate from Amethi Lok Sabha seat Smriti Irani said that people in the constituency have understood that development is possible when the leader has good character and the government has clarity in its policies.
"The people of Amethi have accepted me as their family. I am a voter in Amethi now. The people have understood that if the government is clear with its policy and the leader has good character, then a lot of development is possible in very little time," Smriti Irani told ANI here on Monday. "The Congress leadership is preparing to conduct an analysis of their loss in Amethi after the declaration of the results," she added. Earlier in the day, launching a scathing attack on the Congress party, she alleged that if Congress comes to power, it will overturn the Supreme Court decision on Ram Mandir and build a mosque there. Irani was addressing a Nukkad Sabha in Babupur Village, Gauriganj, in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh. "If there had been a Congress MP, a dalaal (middleman) would have stolen vaccines, had there been a Congress MP, someone would have stolen the ration with fake fingerprint and ration could never have reached the people," Irani said. "Rahul Gandhi was MP from Amethi for so many years, can he point out where exactly the 'Tikariya'village lies?" she further asked. Taking a jibe at Congress, she asked people to ignite fire in Congress Lanka to vote against the Congress party. In a veiled reference to former Congress leader Pramod Krishnam's remarks, Irani said, "A leader who was associated with Congress for 32 years, has said that if Rahul Gandhi gets power, he will overturn the Supreme Court ruling on Ram Mandir and again facilitate a mosque there....it is my appeal to people to become the Hanuman of Democracy and ignite a fire in Congress' 'Lanka'." The Union Minister is seeking re-election from the Amethi, a seat she wrested from Rahul Gandhi in 2019, ending the Gandhi family's stint there. Irani defeated Rahul by over 55,000 votes in the last general elections. Rahul Gandhi was a three-time MP from the seat from 2004 to 2019. The seat was represented from Rajiv Gandhi in the past. Sonia Gandhi too won from the seat in 1999, before passing the baton to Rahul in 2004. Rahul Gandhi will be contesting elections from RaeBareli, the seat vacated recently by his mother and former Congress President Sonia Gandhi when she moved to Rajya Sabha.This time, Irani is pitted against Congress candidate Kishori Lal Sharma, a longtime loyalist of the Gandhi family. The voting in both seats will be held in the fifth phase of the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections on May 7. Polling for 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh is being held across all seven phases. The counting of votes is scheduled for June 4. (ANI)
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