Robert Vadra, husband of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, once again hinted at his likely entry in politics as the grand old party is struggling to find a suitable candidate for the Gandhi family bastion Amethi in Uttar Pradesh. Amethi was the Gandhi family's pocket borough for a long time before Smriti Irani won the seat in the 2019 general elections.
The Gandhi son-in-law said in a recent interview that he is getting calls from Congress workers all over the country, including Amethi. Vadra further claimed that his bid to contest from Amethi is getting more coverage as he has campaigned for the grand old party from there since 1999.
"Not just Amethi, I am getting party workers' support from all over the country to actively join politics. Yes, I admit that the Amethi bit (of him contesting Lok Sabha polls from the constituency) is getting more prominence because I have campaigned there since 1999," Vadra told news agency IANS in an interview.
He added that his posters started appearing in other places as well as people have realised the hard work that the Congress party has put in so far. "However, my posters have started appearing elsewhere too as people realise and admire the hard work that we have put in so far," he added.
Going ahead, Vadra hit out at Smriti Irani and hopes that the people of Amethi will correct the "mistake of electing" the Union minister. Robert Vadra also said that if he contests from the constituency, he will win by a huge margin.
"However, I will not fight to challenge someone even though Smritiji levelled unsubstantiated allegations against me in the past," he said.
He further said that if Rahul Gandhi chooses to contest from Amethi after Wayanad, then, he would come in full support of his brother-in-law. Gandhi will decide whether to contest from Amethi or not after the second phase of polls in Wayanad on April 26, India Today reported citing sources.
"If Rahul thinks that he should also fight from Amethi after Wayanad, I will fully support him and be with him during his campaigns. Also, I don't need to be in active politics to interact with the people. They know they can always meet me in case Rahul or Priyanka are not available," he said.
Amethi will go to polls on May 20 in the fifth phase of Lok Sabha elections along with Rae Bareli, Mohanlalganj, Lucknow, Jalaun, Jhansi, Hamirpur, Banda, Fatehpur, Kaushambi, Barabanki, Faizabad, Kaiserganj and Gonda.