Tamil Nadu BJP president and the party's Lok Sabha candidate from Coimbatore K Annamalai on Sunday made a big prediction regarding Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's electoral prospects in Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli Lok Sabha seat.
On May 3, the Gandhi scion filed his nomination for contesting the ongoing general elections from Raebareli. Gandhi is also contesting the Lok Sabha from Kerala's Wayanad seat, where polling took place on April 26.
Annamalai claimed that the people of Raebareli will reject the Congress this time as Rahul Gandhi has not only forsaken the people of Wayanad but also the people of Amethi. Rahul Gandhi represented Amethi from 2004 till 2019, when Smriti Irani defeated him by more than 55,000 votes.
"Now, Rahul Gandhiji has not only forsaken the people of Wayanad. He has also forsaken the people of Amethi who elected him in 2004, 2009 and 2014. Now going to Raebareli, Rahul Gandhiji might think this is a safe seat. But people look for courage in a leader, and that too Rahul Gandhiji is aspiring to sit on the Prime Minister's chair," Annamalai told news agency ANI.
The firebrand BJP leader said that the people have understood the Congress party's "evil design and moral bankruptcy" due to which they take the people for granted. He said that Rahul Gandhi went to file the nomination from Rae Bareli as soon as the elections in Kerala got over.
"After one phase of the election in Kerala is over, then they will go to the next phase and submit their nomination form. So, we are confident even Raebareli people will reject Congress this time," Annamalai said on the Gandhi scion.
The Tamil Nadu BJP president further said that Rahul Gandhi never told the people of Wayanad that he was thinking about contesting from a second constituency. Annamalai further said that Gandhi visited Wayanad only 7 times in a period of 5 years. "We have seen for the last 5 years, Rahul Gandhiji visited Wayanad a total of 7 times. Total of 7 times only, in 5 years," he said.
Annamalai, however, was not the only one to take a jibe at Rahul Gandhi. Russian chess legend Gary Kasparov made a humorous remark about the Gandhi scion in a social media post. He suggested that Rahul Gandhi should "first win Rae Bareli before challenging for the top."
His comment came after Rahul Gandhi named Kasparov as his favourite chess player and described the chess grandmaster as a "non-linear thinker". Comparing politics and chess, the Congress leader said: "Once you get slightly better at it, the opponent's pieces actually operate almost like your own."
Voting in Raebareli will take on May 20 during the fifth phase of the ongoing Lok Sabha elections 2024 along with 48 other parliamentary constituencies across 8 states/UTs, including the Ladakh Lok Sabha seat.