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Smriti Irani says Rahul 'staged' Kerala invite, Congress reminds her of 2014 poll debacle

Rahul Had Earlier Turned Down The Request, Saying He Did Not Now Know Much About Wayanad.

News Nation Bureau | Edited By : Abhinav Gupta | Updated on: 24 Mar 2019, 10:49:51 AM
Smriti Irani (Left), Rahul Gandhi (Right)

New Delhi:

Amid demand for Congress president Rahul Gandhi to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Karnataka’s Wayanad, Union minister Smriti Irani on Saturday took a dig at the former saying that after rejected by people of his constituency Amethi, Rahul staged the invite from Kerala.

AICC General Secretary Oommen Chandy on Saturday said the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee has requested Gandhi to contest from Wayanad, but he has not yet commented on the proposal.

Speaking on the matter, Congress chief spokesperson Ranadeep Surjewala said, "A decision in this regard is yet to be taken by the Congress President. However, we thank Kerala PCC Unit, Congress workers, leaders and people of Kerala for the immense affection, for the respect as also for the desire with which they have urged Gandhi."

According to reports, Rahul had earlier turned down the request, saying he did not now know much about the Wayanad constituency.

Interestingly, the party, which is contesting 16 out of 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, has announced the names of 14 candidates but has not declared its candidates from Wayanad and Vadakara.

Targeting Rahul over speculations, Irani tweeted that after being rejected by people of Amethi, the former staged the call for candidature. She tweeted the message with hashtag “bhaag Rahul bhaag”.

Hitting back at Irani, Surjewala reminded Irani how she was “forced out” of Chandni Chowk and Amethi, still she always managed to become an MP from Rajya Sabha. He added that this time Irani will make a “hat-trick of losses” from Amethi.

Irani had fought elections against Kapil Sibal in Delhi’s Chandni Chowk and Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, but lost at both the constituencies.

Earlier this month, the Congress, in its first list of candidates, announced that Rahul will contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections from Amethi and Sonia Gandhi will contest from Rae Bareli. The BJP, in its first list, once again fielded Irani against the Congress chief.

Gandhi's candidature from Wayanad will energise the Congress party in South India and thus the party can win majority of seats from the region, the leaders said.

The Congress had earlier proposed T Siddique, the Kozhikode District Congress Committee president, for the Wayanad seat but he has backed out.

Siddique said he also wants Gandhi to contest from the Wayanad seat.

The election convention of the party-led UDF for Wayanad constituency will unanimously urge Gandhi to contest from the seat, he added.

The Congress state units in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka have also demanded that the party president contest the Lok Sabha elections from their respective states.

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First Published : 24 Mar 2019, 06:53:09 AM

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