Smriti Irani Claims Rahul Gandhi Secured PFI Backing for Wayanad LS Candidacy

Amethi: Union Minister and Amethi MP, Smriti Irani, on Thursday, accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of securing the support of the outlawed Popular Front of India (PFI) for his Lok Sabha candidacy from Kerala's Wayanad constituency.

Speaking at a Yadav Sammelan at her Gauriganj residence, she stated, "Rahul Gandhi has sought the backing of the PFI, an organization accused of terrorism and plotting against Hindus, for his Wayanad campaign."

Irani, who is campaigning for re-election from Amethi where she triumphed over Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, also highlighted the absence of flags at a recent rally of the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) and the Congress, which Rahul Gandhi attended.

She alleged that Rahul Gandhi has struck a deal with the IUML to forego the flag of either party. "When they can trade their party's flag for personal gain, imagine what they could do to you," she remarked.

Continuing her criticism of Gandhi, the BJP leader said, "When a minister from Karnataka asked Rahul Gandhi why he chose to run from Wayanad, he responded that the people of Wayanad are more loyal. I want to ask, are the people of the area where he was MP for 15 years not loyal? Are they traitors?" Irani questioned.

With the formation of the Modi government and the Yogi government in the state, she asked, "What can Rahul Gandhi do now?" Irani, who caused a significant upset in the 2019 general election by defeating Gandhi in Amethi, posed this question.

Irani also criticized West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the Sandeshkhali incident. She claimed that what was not achieved in Amethi in 50 years, the BJP's 'double engine' government has accomplished in five years.

Naming Gandhi, she launched a fierce attack and said this family will always keep Amethi backward. He wanted to keep the people here impoverished, she alleged. Gandhi did not want to build houses and toilets in the people's homes so that the people here kept following the big leaders of Congress with folded hands, while Sonia Gandhi's government was in the Centre, she said.

Irani concluded by saying that the Congress has only learned to insult the people who bring them to power.

(With PTI Inputs)