The Amethi battle: Will Smriti Irani sweep again or Gandhi family loyalist KL Sharma spring a surprise?

The Amethi Lok Sabha constituency in Uttar Pradesh will be one of the most watched seats in the fifth phase of voting in the ongoing general elections on May 20. The seat was in the headlines due to the uncertainty over who the Congress will field from the constituency against sitting MP and Union minister Smriti Irani. 

There were speculations that the grand old party may field either Rahul Gandhi or Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from the constituency against Smriti Irani. Putting all the speculations to rest, the Congress announced Gandhi family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma as its candidate from the constituency... on the last day of nomination for phase 5.

KL Sharma will be faced with stiff opposition from Smriti Irani in Amethi. While Sharma has focused on raking up his and the Gandhi family's connect with the constituency, Irani is questioning the Congress on what it has done for the constituency so far. 

KL Sharma, Smriti Irani on contesting from Amethi

Soon after his candidature from Amethi was announced, Sharma said the BJP's claim of Congress accepting defeat by not fielding anyone from the Gandhi family shows its "arrogance." He added that he has been looking after Amethi and Rae Bareli constituencies for more than 41 years and the Gandhi family resides in the minds of everyone. 

“This is right that it is their constituency. Even in the past Captain Satish Sharma fought from here but when Sonia ji had to fight, he handed over the seat to Sonia ji. If such a situation arises in the future, I will do the same,” he asserted.

Smriti Irani, on the other hand, said Rahul Gandhi's decision to ditch Amethi was a huge compliment for her. "For the Congress party to say that their entire strategy and energy was focused on me is a huge compliment because it means that I was extremely important to them," she said. 

Amethi-- once a Congress bastion

For decades, the voters of Amethi remained loyal to the grand old party as they consistently elected members of the Nehru Gandhi family or candidates backed by the family. After Sanjay Gandhi died in a plane crash in 1980, his brother and former PM Rajiv Gandhi won from Amethi in 1981. Rajiv Gandhi continued to represent the seat until his assassination in 1991. 

In the 1991 by-election necessitated by Rajiv Gandhi's assassination, Congress' late Satish Sharma won from the seat by a margin of more than 99,000 votes. Sharma continued to represent the seat in the Lok Sabha till 1998, when BJP's Sanjaya Sinh defeated him by a margin of over 23,000 votes. In the 1999 general elections, the Congress regained its bastion back with Sonia Gandhi's decisive win. Sonia Gandhi won from Amethi against BJP's Sanjaya Sinh by a margin of more than 3 lakh votes.

In 2004, Sonia Gandhi decided to field her son Rahul Gandhi from the seat. She then moved to the Rae Bareli Lok Sabha constituency. In 2004, Rahul won his first election from Amethi by a margin of roughly 3 lakh votes. The Gandhi scion came back as Amethi Lok Sabha MP with an even bigger mandate in 2009. In this election, Rahul Gandhi won the seat by a decisive margin of more than 3.70 lakh votes.

The 2019 upset in Amethi

In 2014, he was faced with a stiff opposition in his stronghold from Smriti Irani. While Gandhi scored his third win from Amethi, his victory margin declined due to strong opposition by Smriti Irani. In 2019, the tables turned on the Gandhi scion as Irani won from Amethi by a margin of more than 55,000 votes and is the sitting MP from the constituency.