Why Rahul Gandhi lost Amethi
A day after Congress President Rahul Gandhi lost in his home turf of Amethi against Union Minister and BJP candidate Smriti Irani, local people blamed the party’s turncoats and local leaders for the rout. Rahul Gandhi, who had remained undefeated on his home turf in the last three general elections of 2004, 2009 and 2014, lost this time by over 55,000 votes.
Krishna Tiwari, who joined the BJP leaving the Congress in 2015 said, “Several Congress leaders leaving the party made things worse for the Congress as they joined the ruling BJP in the last five years.” He said besides Congress leaders, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party leaders who also switched to the saffron party in the last few years.
Rakesh Singh, a local Congress leader, said that Dalits and backward castes constitute about 58% of the total population of Amethi, while upper castes constitute over 26% and Muslims over 16%.
Vishun Kumar Singh, a resident of Nara village, said that the absence of Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi from Amethi in this election season hurt them badly. He said, “Earlier Priyanka Gandhi used to camp in Amethi and Rae Bareli and take care of the campaigning. But this time, both of them were busy in campaigning in other parts of the state.”
“In their absence, the campaigns carried out by the local leaders hardly generated any buzz among the people,” he said.
Surendra Singh, a resident of Buraulia, said the Congress chief must introspect why the people did not vote for him this time. He said, “The roads in his area, scholarships to the students and youths, new schools and several schemes brought by Irani in Amethi helped her connect with the masses, especially the youth.”
Pointing at the number of visits by Irani to Amethi and Rahul Gandhi, Singh said, “Even after losing in 2014, she came to Amethi over 35 times. She met people personally. And when they went to Delhi,
she also remembered their names. While Rahul Gandhi only visited some 15-16 times.”
Another person said that Rahul Gandhi visited Buraulia three years ago, and in this election season he did not visit at all. “Why will one vote for such a person who does not visit the people of his constituency?” he added.