Congress's last-minute decision to field Rahul Gandhi from Rae Bareli instead of his erstwhile bastion of Amethi drew taunts and sneers from several BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union minister Smriti Irani.
BJP’s Amethi’s candidate Irani described as “an admission of defeat” the Congress’s decision to field KL Sharma as her rival from in the Uttar Pradesh constituency. "No member of the Gandhi family contesting from Amethi in itself is an indication that Congress has accepted its defeat from Amethi even before elections,” the Amethi MP said on May 3, hours after Sharma’s candidature was announced.
At a rally in West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the result of the Lok Sabha election was clear. "I had already said in the Parliament that their (Congress) biggest leader will not dare to fight elections and she will run away. She ran away to Rajasthan and came to the Rajya Sabha... I had already said that the Shehzada was going to lose in Wayanad. I had said that as soon as the polling was completed in Wayanad, he would start looking for another seat... He is so scared of Amethi that he is running towards Rae Bareli. They ask everyone 'Daro Mat'. Today, I also ask them, 'Daro Mat, Bhago Mat'..."
Union Home Minister Amit Shah said Rahul Gandhi will lose to BJP candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh in Rae Bareli. "... Sonia Gandhi has launched 'Rahul Baba' 20 times, but the launch hasn't been successful. Today, he ran away from Amethi to file a nomination for Raebareli. I want to tell you (Rahul Gandhi) the result from here, 'Rahul Baba' will lose to the BJP candidate, Dinesh Pratap Singh by a huge margin in Rae Bareli."
Union Minister Giriraj Singh said "the Gandhi family never goes back to the seat from where it loses". "Rahul Gandhi lost Amethi and he left it. This time if he loses Rae Bareli too, he will leave that too. Just like Bahadur Shah Zafar was the last emperor of the Mughal Sultanate, Rae Bareli is the same for the Gandhi family," he said.
Union Minister and BJP Hamirpur candidate Anurag Thakur said the decision not to contest from Amethi indicated Rahul Gandhi's fear of being defeated. "Sometimes back Rahul Gandhi used to say 'daro mat, daro mat' (don't be scared), now due to fear, from Amethi to Wayanad and Wayanad to Raebareli indicates his fear towards defeat taking him everywhere...He was not able to serve justice to his sister (Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) as on one side Robert Vadra was also asking for tickets and on the other side party's demand was for Priyanka Gandhi, however, her name was not mentioned in the party's list shows something is going on within Congress party..."
On Gandhi's candidature from Rae Bareli, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the Congress has confirmed that they have surrendered. "Rahulji, you said 'Daro Mat' and now you are saying 'Amethi se Lado mat'. The Congress has confirmed that they have surrendered and have run away from Amethi... After defrauding Amethi for so many years, they went to Wayanad. They are defrauding Wayanad also. They are doing 'use and throw' with Wayanad... They have chosen, what they feel, is a safer seat in Rae Bareli," he said.
BJP national secretary Manjinder Singh Sirsa said Rahul Gandhi will lose from Wayanad. "This is why he is going to contest from Raebareli. Earlier, he accepted defeat from Amethi, now he is running away from Wayanad. The situation is such that no one from Congress wants to contest from Amethi, which was Congress' traditional seat... Rahul Gandhi will also have to leave Raebareli, and people will give him a befitting reply, he will be defeated in Raebareli too..."
Uttar Pradesh Deuty CM Brajesh Pathak said the BJP is going to win in Rae Bareli and Amethi with a huge margin. "Rahul Gandhi had first left Amethi and went to Wayanad, now he has come to Raebareli. The people of Raebareli will never accept him. BJP is going to win all 80 seats in the state with a huge majority..." he said.
Sharma and Gandhi are scheduled to file their nomination papers today, the last date for the filing of nominations for the seats that will go to polls on May 20 in the fifth round of the Lok Sabha election.
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