My relation with Amethi is of family, will never break: Irani
Lucknow: Nearly a year after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, former BJP MP Smriti Irani returned to Amethi on Monday, marking her first significant public appearance in the constituency after her defeat.
Irani, who represented Amethi Lok Sabha seat in 2019, turned emotional as she visited her former parliamentary constituency after nearly 11 months. "I have an old connection with Amethi. It's a relationship of family, of blood, such ties are never weak and never break. Amethi has accepted me as a sister and the bond of a sister with her home only ends with her funeral," said Irani.
"The relationship you all have built with me will not be allowed to break," she added.
While she was back to her former constituency to participate in an event marking the 300th birth anniversary of Maratha Queen Ahilyabai Holkar, the visit sparked political buzz and speculation over her future role in the region's politics.
Irani chose to keep her visit a low-key affair. After landing at Lucknow airport, she headed straight to Amethi. Sources said she did not interact much with the party workers who had gathered in a fair presence to greet her at the airport.
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Irani reached Jagdishpur, where she met the family whose three members drowned in the Ganga during the 'asthi visarjan' ceremony on Sunday.
The Jagdishpur assembly segment happens to be part of the Amethi Lok Sabha seat, which Irani lost to Congress's Kishori Lal Sharma by a margin of over 1.6 lakh votes.
Irani was greeted by party workers on her way to the constituency, where she even bought a house just before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Sources said that the former BJP MP camped in her house and met a select group of party workers. She reportedly took feedback about the prevailing situation in the constituency and the emerging poll scenario. She later visited the party office in Amethi and met party workers there as well.
Popularly known as 'Didi' among locals, Irani kept a notably low profile since losing the seat she dramatically wrested from Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in 2019.
The BJP leader assured the crowd that she would no longer wait for 11 months to visit Amethi again.
Irani said the vision of a strong nation is incomplete without the progress of its villages and communities.
"When the BJP govt was formed under the leadership of Narendra Modi in 2014, it laid special emphasis on rural development," she added.
Taking a jibe at the opposition party without directly naming it, Irani said, "Before 2014, the budget allocated for panchayat development was Rs 70,000 crore.
This was increased to Rs 2.5 lakh crore. As a result, India is not just stronger today, but our economy now ranks fourth in the world."
Escalating her attack on the Congress, the BJP leader claimed that no recruitment was carried out for 32 years from the local army recruitment office.
"It was the Modi govt that restarted the process, enabling 10,000 local youth to join the armed forces," she said.
Irani credited Prime Minister Modi with establishing a gun factory in Amethi that has so far delivered 33,000 rifles to the Indian Army.
Highlighting the development works carried out in the constituency during her tenure and under the BJP governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh, Irani said the "double-engine government" brought projects such as a Sainik School, Kendriya Vidyalaya, medical college, fertilizer rake centre, Krishi Vigyan Kendra and a Coca Cola factory to Amethi.
Her return to Amethi, not surprisingly, reignited discussions in political circles about the BJP's strategy for reviving its base in the constituency and whether Irani would continue to be the party's face in the region.
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