New Delhi: In a rare gesture, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi made an appeal on social media asking people to refrain from “being nasty” towards former Union minister Smriti Irani, who had defeated him in Amethi with a margin of over 55,000 votes in 2019 and then lost to Gandhi family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma -- who was making his electoral debut -- by over 1.6 lakh votes in this year’s general election.
In a tweet on X on Friday, Mr Gandhi, now the Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli in UP, wrote: “Winning and losing happen in life. I urge everyone to refrain from using derogatory language and being nasty towards Smt Smriti Irani or any other leader for that matter.” He added: “Humiliating and insulting people is a sign of weakness, not strength.”
Before the general election, there was a strong buzz that Rahul Gandhi would contest against Smriti Irani from the family bastion of Amethi in 2024 and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would fight from Rae Bareli, another bastion that had been vacated by their mother Sonia Gandhi, who is now a member of the Rajya Sabha.
When Kishori Lal Sharma’s candidature was announced in May, Ms Irani, then Union minister for women and child development, had said: “I think the Congress nomination and the entire Gandhi family backing out from a battle in Amethi is significant because, as far as I am concerned, it is the proclamation of defeat of the Congress Party from Amethi.”
At a press conference after her loss, Irani said, "I express my gratitude to all the BJP party workers and supporters, those who have worked in the service of the constituency and the party with utmost dedication and fidelity...Today, I am grateful to PM Narendra Modi and CM Yogi Adityanath that their governments have completed the pending works of 30 years in just 5 years. I congratulate those who win. I will continue to be in the service of the people of Amethi."
Several senior Congress leaders welcomed Mr Rahul Gandhi’s statement. “Humility, respect, empathy and dignity. These are the values we must cherish. Wish more would learn from Rahul Gandhi,” senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot said, quoting Rahul’s post.
The BJP, however, was not impressed. BJP leader Amit Malviya wrote on X: “After unleashing Congress leaders, like a pack of wolves, on the woman who defeated him in Amethi and smashed his arrogance to smithereens, this is rich. All this gibberish doesn’t take away from the fact that Smriti Irani forced ‘Balak Buddhi’ to abandon Amethi.”
On Wednesday, Ms Irani vacated her official bungalow at 28 Tughlak Crescent in Lutyens’ Delhi as she is no longer an MP.
