Claiming that Union Minister Smriti Irani will defeat Rahul Gandhi in the battle for the Amethi Lok Sabha seat, the BJP on Friday took a dig at him, asking if Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s comments about her party putting up candidates to eat into BJP votes also referred to the Congress President.

BJP leader and Union Minister Piyush Goyal told a press conference that the people of Amethi do not want a MP like Gandhi, who visits the constituency like a “tourist” once in five years, and that they will vote for the BJP candidate Irani to speed up development in the area.

‘Betraying Amethi’

The Congress has “betrayed” Amethi, which goes to the poll on May 6, by keeping it mired in poverty and underdevelopment, he claimed.

The BJP’s attack on the Congress chief came a day before its scheduled roadshow in the constituency, which will be attended by its President Amit Shah, to boost its prospects in the Gandhi family’s pocket borough.

Goyal claimed Irani would have defeated Gandhi in the 2014 polls if her name was announced earlier than it was.

However, she still managed to reduce his margin of win to a little over 1 lakh from over three lakh in 2009, the BJP leader said.

Referring to Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s comments that her party had put up such candidates in Uttar Pradesh that they will either win or cut into the BJP’s votes, Goyal said she might have her family members in her mind.

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