Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday attacked the Congress over fielding Rahul Gandhi from Rae Bareli instead of Amethi. Modi asked the Gandhi to not be scared of the electoral contest and run away from Amethi. Earlier in the day, the Congress party announced that Rahul Gandhi will be contesting the ongoing Lok Sabha elections from Rae Bareli and Gandhi family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma was fielded from Amethi.
Taking the oft-repeated Shehzada jibe at Rahul Gandhi, the Prime Minister also said that he already predicted that the Gandhi scion was going to lose Wayanad. Modi mentioned that he knew as soon as the polling in Wayanad was over on April 26, Rahul Gandhi would look for another seat.
"I had already said that Shehzada was going to lose in Wayanad, he would start looking for another seat... He is so scared of Amethi that he is running towards Raebareli. They ask everyone 'Daro Mat'. Today, I also ask them, ''Daro Mat, Bhago Mat," the Prime Minister said at a rally in West Bengal's Bardhaman-Durgapur.
Furthermore, Modi also said that Sonia Gandhi came to the Rajya Sabha as she could not dare to fight the Lok Sabha elections this time around. "I had already said in the Parliament that their (Congress) biggest leader will not dare to fight elections and she will run away. She ran away to Rajasthan and came to the Rajya Sabha," PM Modi said.
Narendra Modi was, however, not the only one who criticised Rahul Gandhi for contesting from Rae Bareli instead of Amethi. Sitting MP from Amethi Smriti Irani also attacked the Gandhi family. Irani said that the people of Amethi abandoned the Gandhi family in 2019 as the Gandhi scion was missing from the constituency for 15 years and there was no development.
She said that a lot of development has taken place in the Lok Sabha constituency ever since she was elected. Irani added: "In Rae Bareli too, the Gandhi family did not serve. The people of Rae Bareli know that the people of Amethi had sidelined them."
In the 2019 general elections, Rahul Gandhi was defeated by Smriti Irani by a margin of more than 55,000 votes, earning Irani the moniker 'giant killer'. Before this, Gandhi had represented the constituency for three straight terms-- 2004-2009, 2009-2014, and 2014-2019.
Former Congress leader Acharya Pramod Krishnam also said that Rahul Gandhi's decision to ditch Amethi is "unfortunate for the Congress." Krishnam said that Rahul Gandhi running away from Amethi gives a message that a person who challenged the Prime Minister everyday and told the people of India to not be scared is himself nervous.
Acharya Krishnam said: "Rahul Gandhi should have contested from Amethi. Running away from Amethi gives a message that a person who challenged PM Modi every day and asked the people of the country 'Daro Mat' (do not be scared). Today, he is scared. This is unfortunate for the Congress..."