May 04, 2024 02:38 PM IST
KL Sharma, a confidant of the Gandhi family, will go head-to-head against union minister Smriti Irani in Amethi for the Lok Sabha elections.
BJP leader Dinesh Pratap Singh on Saturday took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi over fielding Kishori Lal Sharma as the party’s Amethi candidate, saying the latter has sent his “peon” to contest against BJP’s Smriti Irani.
“Does Rahul Gandhi really want to win Amethi and Raebareli? If he really wanted to win Amethi, why would he give a Lok Sabha ticket to his peon from Amethi? Rahul Gandhi will lose both Raebareli and Amethi seats…He (Rahul Gandhi) has run away from Amethi, and I believe he will not ask for votes. There is Smriti Irani, who, just like a family, gave love and respect to Amethi,” Singh, who is BJP’s candidate from Rae Bareli, said, as quoted by ANI.
Unlock exclusive access to the latest news on India’s general elections, only on the HT App. Download Now! Download Now!
The BJP leader further said that whenever the Gandhi family used to visit Amethi or Rae Bareli, there used to be “ropes tied to separate the people and in between the ropes, the Gandhi family passed by waving their hands”.
Also read: BJP claims Rahul Gandhi camp ‘systematically marginalising’ Robert Vadra, Priyanka Gandhi
“…But, now the people’s wait of centuries of love and affection is being fulfilled, relations are building up. The part of the family is Dinesh Pratap Singh and Smriti Irani and not the Gandhi family,” he added.
KL Sharma, a confidant of the Gandhi family and the point-person in Rae Bareli and Amethi for all matters linked to the Gandhis, will go head-to-head against union minister Smriti Irani in Amethi for the Lok Sabha elections.
Singh, who is contesting against Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli, also took a dig at Sonia Gandhi, saying that she left Rae Bareli “out of fear”.
“Sonia Gandhi left Raebareli in fear that if she loses, she will have to leave the ‘das Janpath’. He (Rahul Gandhi) came, filed a nomination and left for Delhi. Dinesh Pratap Singh, after filing his nomination, started moving in the streets of the villages of Raebareli,” he said.
Both Amethi and Rae Bareli will vote in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha polls on May 20. The results will be declared on June 4.
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Follow the latest breaking news and developments from India and around the world with Hindustan Times’ newsdesk. From politics and policies to the economy and the environment, from local issues to national events and global affairs, we’ve got you covered.
