'Rahul Gandhi Will Forfeit His Deposit': BJP Challenges Congress MP To Fight With Smriti Irani For Amethi

Lok Sabha Election 2024: The BJP has challenged Uttar Pradesh Congress to ensure that MP Rahul Gandhi contests the upcoming General election from Amethi, the seat that he lost to BJP's Smriti Irani in 2019.

File Photos of Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and Union Minister Smriti Irani.

Source : PTI

BJP spokesperson RP Singh on Friday challenged newly appointed Uttar Pradesh unit Congress chief Ajay Rai to ensure that MP Rahul Gandhi contests the upcoming Lok Sabha election from Amethi. The challenge comes after Ajay Rai claimed that Rahul Gandhi will contest from his traditional Lok Sabha seat in UP where he lost to BJP's Smriti Irani in the 2019 General Election.

"If Rahul Gandhi contests from Amethi, his deposit will also be forfeited this time," the BJP spokesperson remarked. "I will even say that not just Amethi, Rahul Gandhi will not contest from Wayanad either," he claimed.

Earlier today, the UP Congress unit president said, "Of course, Rahul Gandhi will contest the Amethi seat. The people of Amethi have come here and if Priyanka Gandhi's wish is to contest from Varanasi, each of our workers will die for her success."

Rahul Gandhi lost the Amethi Lok Sabha seat, regarded as a Congress Bastion, to BJP's Smriti Irani in 2019 in the biggest shocker for the grand old party which was already hit by massive defeat across India in the previous LS polls.

Smiriti Irani trumped then Congress President Rahul Gandhi by 55,120 votes as the latter could secure only 4,13,394 votes.

The Amethi Lok Sabha seat was previously held by Rahul's uncle Sanjay Gandhi (1980-81) and father Rajiv Gandhi (1981-1991). After this, his mother Sonia Gandhi won the seat from 1999-2004. Rahul held the seat from 2004 till his defeat in 2019. Because of Amethi's ties with the Gandhi family and Congress presidents, the defeat became a further loss of face for the grand old party. However, Rahul Gandhi managed to enter Lok Sabha after the 2019 polls having won the Wayanad seat in Kerala that year.

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