A former actress and a former journalist battle it out for a constituency which was once a pocket borough of the Gandhi family but has lately been springing surprises and giving into an anti-incumbency factor.
There are many reasons why Amethi is far more than just one of the 80 Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. Its rich political history apart, over the years Amethi has seen the poster faces of politics slugging it out to represent the constituency.
Rahul Gandhi vs Smriti Irani
Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi defeated Smriti Irani in 2014 and retained the constituency and in what can be called a complete reversal of politics, in 2019 Smriti Irani beat Rahul Gandhi to grab the constituency. Before this in 2009, Rahul Gandhi beat Bahujan Samaj Party’s Chandra Parkash Mishra in Amethi.
Regional politics can often be zeroed down to two scenarios; political strongholds where the loyalty of those voting remains unshaken, or anti-incumbency waves where the voters vote against a political figure, rather than vote in favor of the other. But for Amethi —- its political fluctuations are hard to predict, let alone be able to pin down.
Supriya Shrinate Vs Smriti Irani from Amethi
What was once widely known as the pocket borough of the Gandhi family, Amethi has currently shown that it is capable of springing surprises, or even shocks to those contesting.
Congress party workers have been hoping to see Rahul Gandhi wrestle the seat back from Irani, who is known to be particularly vocal against Gandhi, in her speeches and social media posts. Notably, before Rahul Gandhi, Amethi has earlier been represented by Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi.
Locking horns for the constituency in 2024 are Congress’ Supriya Shrinate and BJPs Smriti Irani. Irani, a former actress, is currently the Union Minister of Women and Child Development in Modi’s cabinet. Shrinate, a former journalist, is currently a member of the Congress working committee.
A second-generation politician, she is the daughter of the late Harsh Vardhan, who represented the Maharajganj constituency of Uttar Pradesh in 2009. While this will be Irani's third Lok Sabha election from the constituency, where she hopes to fight anti-incumbency, Shrinate is testing political waters for the second time.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Shrinate suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of BJP’s Pankaj Choudhary in the Maharajganj constituency, despite raising issues like the plight of sugarcane farmers and unemployment.
War of words
Poll battles, the world over, are known to get bitter and bigger and entail a war of scathing words. Lately, both women contesting have been vocal and very public about the rivalry. Amethi goes to polls in Phase 5 of the elections, which is May 20. Interestingly, Shrinate has been as vocal against Smriti Irani, as the latter has been against Rahul Gandhi.
Last year during the Monsoon Session of the Parliament, Rahul Gandhi's alleged flying kiss brought the high-pitched battles of the trio both on and off the Parliament. Irani, on different occasions, has dubbed Rahul Gandhi, “a misogynist, a shameless man with despicable behaviour.”
Shrinate, has often come to the fore for Gandhi’s rescue and called Irani, “a melodrama queen who treated India’s Parliament as a TV channel.” Do the issues take over or the emotions, how the episodes pan out in real will be interesting to watch.
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