Top Bharatiya Janata Party leader and Union Minister, Smriti Irani, filed her nomination papers on Monday for the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency.
Irani completed her form diligently before filing her nominations in duplicate and handing over her papers to District Election Officer Nisha Anant to indicate her strong intensions for the polls.
She travelled from the BJP office at Gauriganj with two prominent personalities in the party—Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav and Mayankashwar Sharan Singh—besides her husband, Zubin Irani, and fellow BJP leaders on a colourful three-kilometer roadshow.
Although the enthusiasm was palpable, the roadshow ended short of the collectorate as the district magistrate had prohibited the procession.
The general enthusiasm was lively, with UP Minister Mayankashwar Sharan Singh and Irani's husband, Zubin Irani, playing an active role.
Irani added, "With the blessings of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I embarked on the journey for Amethi five years back. In this relatively short span, we have achieved milestones that remained elusive for half a century."
Irani did not hesitate to criticise Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who held sway over Amethi from 2004 to 2019. She spoke of the plight of farmers under Gandhi's leadership, recalling instances where the absence of support had rendered the situation precarious. She added that Prime Minister Modi was the one who ushered in measures, such as creating a fertiliser centre, to reduce the burden on the farmers.
She listed the development work along the way, proudly claiming that she and her party had provided homes to 1.14 lakh underprivileged people, created sanitation facilities for 4 lakh impoverished families—benefiting 16 lakh people—connected 1.5 lakh households with electricity, and provided subsidies under the Kisan Samman Nidhi Yojana to 4.20 lakh farmers.
She has won this Amethi seat, once a Congress stronghold from Gandhi in 2019, which portends her growing clout in the region.
While Congress is yet to name its candidate for the seat, the people are already speculating, and the 'big wheel' of the Congress is also being pushed to send Gandhi.
Gandhi, replying to the incident, was rigid to party orders and said, "I will abide by whatever instructions I get from the party."
Amethi's electoral fate dangles in the balance as it prepares to face the polls in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on May 20th.
