An intense battle of ballots is on the cards in Amethi where Congress president Rahul Gandhi will take on Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in changed scenario vis-à-vis 2014.
Smriti Irani had unsuccessfully contested against Rahul Gandhi in the 2014 Lok Sabha election and had lost by around one lakh votes, but she gave a spirited fight.
The Congress had earlier announced the candidature of Rahul Gandhi from Amethi, which goes to polls in the fifth phase on May 6.
With the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party combine deciding not to contest from the Congress stronghold, this election will see a direct fight between Gandhi and Irani.
The Union Textiles Minister said that the “walkover” by the two regional parties spoke volumes about the position of Congress in Amethi.
After her name was announced as the BJP candidate from Amethi, Irani said on Friday that the “writing is on the wall for Rahul Gandhi”.
Dubbing the contest as one between “a Kaamdar” and “a Naamdar”, Irani claimed that while Rahul Gandhi never found time to address the key issues of the people of Amethi, she had given most of her time to the people there during the last five years.
Irani said she would go to the constituency soon to begin her campaign.
Gandhi, in turn, has blamed the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party governments at the Centre and the state for taking away the big projects that were lined up for Amethi.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has repeatedly said that in this election, the BJP will win Amethi and Azamgarh seats also.
In 2014, Amethi Lok Sabha seat was won by Congress and the Azamgarh seat by Mulayam Singh Yadav of Samajwadi Party.
While on her recent visit to Amethi in February, Irani had hit out at the Congress, alleging that the ‘naamdars’ (dynasts) who ruled for over five decades, never thought about Amethi’s development.
“The MP from Amethi never raised the problems of its people in Parliament. People like these have only duped the poor and the people of Amethi on whose votes he has reached Parliament,” she said.