BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani. PTI file
Aditi Tandon
New Delhi, April 5
BJP leader and Union Minister Smriti Irani, the party candidate for former Gandhi family bastion of Amethi, on Thursday took a swipe at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi for “changing families.”
Smriti, who defeated Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, accused Rahul of running away from Amethi, which the Congress party’s Gandhis always called a family.
“Who changes families? Who runs away from family. In 2019 Wayanad was not the first choice of Rahul Gandhi. He chose Wayanad because he ran away from Amethi. If Gandhis call Amethi their family why did they abandon Amethi?” Asked Smriti who was in Wayanad today for the nomination filing of BJP candidate and state unit chief K Surendran who is contesting opposite Rahul and CPI’s Annie Raja in Wayanad.
Smriti also attacked Rahul for “trying to hide the flags of SDPI, the political front of banned outfit PFI.”
“Rahul Gandhi was trying to hide the flags of SDPI after accepting their support in Wayanad,” said Smriti even as Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan said Gandhi should have the courage to accept SDPI support openly.
Smriti said Rahul would abandon Wayanad just as he abandoned Amethi.
The Congress is yet to declare a candidate for Amethi, a seat Gandhi family retained for decades including in 2004, 2009 and 2014 when Rahul was an MP here.
Rahul lost Amethi to Smriti by around 50,000 votes.
Smriti today said Amethi did not even have a blood bank in the 50 years that the Gandhi family held it.
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