Union Minister Smriti Irani slammed Rahul Gandhi for "blaming loyalty of Amethi". The Union minister also called the Congress leader a "useless MP for 15 years" who was unavilable for the common people.
In a video published by ANI, the Union minister can be seen addressing a gathering on April 12 where she questioned Rahul over his declaration in his nomination filing.
"You all must have seen that Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination and declared in writing that Wayanad is his family. It was okay till there. Then we heard from a leader of Karnataka that Rahul Gandhi said the people of Wayanad are more loyal... For 15 years (the people of Amethi) carried a useless MP who did no work, and remained missing even after winning. Now he is blaming the loyalty of Amethi," she is heard saying.
The minister highlighted the Congress leader's alleged absence from the constituency despite him winning from there. "You all were also supportive. Now, will he clarify what Amethi is for him if Wayanad is his home? I have seen people changing colour. This is the first time I have seen Rahul Gandhi changing his family..." she told a gathering.
On April 11, Irani had alleged that Rahul Gandhi took support of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI) to contest the Lok Sabha election from Kerala's Wayanad seat.
In 2014, Rahul Gandhi won the Amethi seat for the third time defeating Irani. He got 46.72 percent of the total votes while Irani secured 34.39 percent of the votes. In 2019 Irani won the Congress bastion with 49.71 percent votes and Rahul got 43.86 percent votes.
BJP announced Irani's candidacy for re-election in Amethi, while Congress fielded Rahul from Wayanad seat. Rahul faces a three-way battle from the seat against CPI's Annie Raja and BJP state chief K Surendran.
Amethi is slated to vote on May 20, while Wayanad will go to polls on April 26.
(With agency inputs)