KL Sharma Wins Big In Amethi (image:KL Sharma/instagram)
Congress candidate KL Sharma won from the Amethi constituency by a margin of 167196 votes. Union Minister and sitting MP Smriti Irani conceded defeat. By addressing the media, Smriti Irani expressed gratitude to all BJP workers and supporters. “I congratulate those who win. I will continue to be in the service of the people of Amethi…,” ANI quotes, as she is saying.
Amethi is the political citadel of the Nehru-Gandhi family. It was Smriti Irani who broke the tradition of Congress winning the elections after 1998. Since 1967, Gandhi family members, including Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and Rahul Gandhi, have been elected from this constituency to the Lower House of Parliament for many consecutive terms.
Congress’ Kishori Lal Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family has spent 40 years managing Gandhi’s poll campaigns in both Amethi and Rae Bareli, stronghold constituencies of the Gandhi family. During the campaign, Sharma has highlighted Amethi as the homeland of the Gandhi family and the lack of fulfillment of BJP promises after Smriti Irani was elected in 2019.
Amethi constituency had seen high voltage campaign as many senior faces from the Congress party including Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were seen in the constituency prior to the elections. Priyanka Gandhi had stayed in the constituency for many days for the campaign and held many corner meetings in the constituency.
In the history of this constituency, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) has won the Amethi seat only two terms. While Sanjay Singh, a former Congress man who joined Janata Dal first and later BJP, he won the seat in 1998, and Smriti Irani was another candidate who secured the seat. In 2019, Smriti Irani won the seat by defeating senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by securing 4,68,514 votes, with winning margin of 55,120 votes.
Earlier, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had won the seat for three consecutive terms—in 2004, 2009, and 2014—by a large margin. In 2014, he had defeated BJP’s Smriti Irani with a margin of 1,07,903 votes.
Delhi-born Smriti Irani, who shot fame with her soap opera performances in Hindi, gained national recognition through her role as Tulsi Virani in the popular Indian television series “Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi,” which aired from 2000 to 2008. This role made her a household name and a beloved figure in Indian entertainment.
Transitioning from television to politics, Smriti Irani joined the BJP in 2003. Her political career rapidly advanced, and she was elected to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of India”s Parliament, from Gujarat in 2011. She rose to prominence in the BJP, becoming a key campaigner and spokesperson. In both the Modi cabinets, she has held several important ministerial portfolios, including the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, and currently, the Ministry of Women and Child Development and the Ministry of Minority Affairs.
