'People's Representative Became Their Problem': Smriti Irani Jabs Rahul Gandhi After His Amethi Loss

New Delhi: BJP leader Smriti Irani, who recorded an upset in the Lok Sabha elections by defeating Rahul Gandhi in his stronghold of Amethi, on Friday said the Congress chief had failed to solve the people’s problems during his tenure as MP.

“The representative of the people did not solve the people's problems, he rather became the problem of the people,” Irani said.

Gandhi lost his home turf to Irani by a margin of more than 55,000 votes. The Congress chief had been elected MP from Amethi since 2004.

In 2014, Irani had also put up a tough fight and garnered over three lakh votes in the parliamentary constituency. She managed to overcome the resistance this time. “I never thought I would lose twice,” she said.

Irani attributed her success to the development schemes started by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. “Modi hai to mumkin hai (it is possible if Modi exists),” she said. “Modi came to Amethi five years ago. The people themselves saw the work done for development, thus the trends were so positive.”

“A particular group of people tried to propagate an assumption regarding me,” Irani said, without naming anyone. “I will not leave Amethi. I will not betray the trust of the people.”

Speaking to News18 after the victory, Irani on Thursday night said her poll campaign had focussed on highlighting the unfulfilled promises of the Congress in Amethi.

“We were not concentrating on an individual but on the concept of somebody given the responsibility but not fulfilling it. It has been a consistent effort since the past five years for us. Got the first signs of change in 2014 itself. My organisation persisted with efforts in the constituency and it bore fruits,” Irani had said.

The BJP had fielded Irani again in the hope that she would improve her performance from five years ago, and she capitalised on Gandhi's absence and had accused him of running away from a fight.