‘Insulting people is a sign of weakness’: Rahul Gandhi defends Smriti Irani, asks people to stop being nasty

Leader of Opposition and Congress leader, Rahul Gandhi, in a rare move, defended BJP’s Smriti Irani and asked people to “stop being nasty” towards her. He said winning and losing is part of life and humiliating others is a sign of weakness. Gandhi’s post is a reference to the hate Irani has been receiving online after she vacated the official residence allotted to her in Lutyens’ Delhi, following her defeat in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 in Amethi. 

“Winning and losing happen in life. I urge everyone to refrain from using derogatory language and being nasty towards Smt. Smriti Irani or any other leader for that matter. Humiliating and insulting people is a sign of weakness, not strength,” he said.

Irani, who lost the seat to loyal Congress hand, Kishori Lal Sharma, vacated her official bungalow at 28 Tughlak Crescent in Delhi. Irani was defeated by a margin of 1.4 lakh votes in Amethi, the seat where she had defeated Rahul Gandhi. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, when Irani defeated Gandhi in Amethi, she was dubbed a ‘giant slayer’. 

Supporters of Gandhi and the Congress called her loss a “humiliating defeat” and called her out for celebrating Gandhi’s loss earlier. After it was decided that Gandhi would contest from Raebareli and not from Amethi, Irani said that it is a matter of pride for her that an ordinary BJP worker sent him packing from the constituency. 

“I think the Congress nomination and the entire Gandhi family backing out from a battle in Amethi is significant because, as far as I am concerned, it is the proclamation of defeat of the Congress party from Amethi,” she had said before the election. 

She had said that this was not the first time Gandhi had run away from Amethi. "The only difference is last time he sought comfort in Wayanad and this time he chose not to contest at all,” she told NDTV.

"She vacated her official residence earlier this week," an official said, adding that former ministers and MPs need to vacate their government accommodation within a month after a new government is formed.