Amid speculations over whether or not Rahul Gandhi will contest from UP's Amethi this time, Priyanka Gandhi's husband Robert Vadra has projected himself as a potential candidate, saying that the people of Amethi want him to represent the constituency.
Stating that the people of Amethi realised that electing Irani was a mistake, Vadra added: "The people of Amethi expect me to represent their constituency if I decide to become a Member of Parliament. For years the Gandhi family worked hard in Rae Bareli, Amethi and Sultanpur. The people of Amethi are troubled by the current MP, they think they have made a mistake by electing her," he told ANI.
He added that he wanted Priyanka (Gandhi) to become an MP first. "I feel I can contest after that," he said. The entrepreneur added that he is still in touch with the people in the constituency. "They wish me on my birthday, they reach out to me through social media. They know how much I am involved in charity, so they too organise such camps on my birthdays," Vadra added.
He added that he had friendships with a lot of people above the party lines.
Vadra's statement comes as Congress delays announcing its candidate from Amethi, Besides Rahul's name, Priyanka Vadra's name is also doing the rounds to take on Smrithi Irani. The BJP has declared Irani as the party's candidate for the seat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In 2019, Irani caused a major upset, defeating former Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the seat by a margin of about 55,000 votes.
Meanwhile, Irani has become a voter of Amethi. She had earlier promised that she would "establish family ties" with her constituency. According to the MP's representative Vijay Gupta, Irani applied to become a voter after getting a house for herself here in Medan Mawai village of Gauriganj.
"Irani considers Amethi as her family. She has built his residence here to live among the Amethi family," he said. "With the construction of the house, she had started the process of making herself a voter from Amethi. The formalities have been completed now," Gupta added.
