The election in Amethi was closely contested with Irani having maintained her lead since morning. It was only in the afternoon that the margin between her and Rahul Gandhi began increasing. Meanwhile, Gandhi on Thursday congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP for their landslide victory in the Lok Sabha polls and said his party will continue to fight the ideological battle with the saffron party.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters, he said the Congress Working Committee will meet soon and decide on whether he should resign as party chief following the electoral debacle. The Congress could manage to add only a few seats to its 2014 Lok Sabha tally of 44 seats. "I congratulate Narendra Modiji and BJP for their electoral victory. People of India have decided that Narendra Modi will be the PM again and I fully respect that," Gandhi said.
"The Congress will continue to fight its ideological battle with BJP unitedly," he added, asking the party workers not be afraid. Gandhi also congratulated Smriti Irani on her victory in Amethi constituency in Uttar Pradesh from where he had won for three consecutive terms since 2004. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Thursday said the party fully respects the decision of the people and congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP for their victory in Lok Sabha polls.