‘My opponent is Priyanka Vadra’: Smriti Irani on battle for Amethi Lok Sabha seat

The Congress may have fielded Gandhi family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma against Smriti Irani from its traditional Amethi Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh, but according to the Union minister, her “opponent” is Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress general secretary.

“I do not want to indulge in juvenile politics,” the incumbent Amethi MP told News18, when asked about Rahul Gandhi’s decision to contest from nearby Rae Bareli instead of his former constituency, and his sister not making her electoral debut despite much speculation.

“My opponent is Priyanka Vadra, she is fighting from the backstage. At least the brother was in front. In 2014 too, Rahul won by a margin of 1.07 lakh votes,” Irani stated.

The Congress general secretary has been campaigning extensively for the two seats, synonymous with the Gandhis. Both Amethi and Rae Bareli have given multiple terms to members of the grand old party’s first family or their aides. While Sonia Gandhi, the siblings’ mother, is a former Amethi MP, and won five consecutive elections from Rae Bareli, Rahul Gandhi made his debut from Amethi in 2004, and won two more terms, but was defeated by BJP’s Irani in 2019, five years after she was runner-up to him. However, the then-Congress chief also fought from Kerala’s Wayanad and won, and thus continued to be a Member of Parliament (MP).

In the ongoing seven-phase Lok Sabha polls, Rahul again stood from Wayanad, which voted in the second phase on April 26. Days later, the Congress named him as its candidate from Rae Bareli, which Sonia Gandhi vacated in February and moved to Rajya Sabha. Sharma, meanwhile, was named against Irani in Amethi.

Both constituencies will poll in the fifth phase on May 20. From Rae Bareli, the ruling BJP has given ticket to Uttar Pradesh minister Dinesh Pratap Singh, who lost to Sonia Gandhi in 2019, though he managed to reduce the victory margin significantly.