Rahul Gandhi Urges People to Refrain from Making Nasty Comments against Smriti Irani
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, July 12: In total contrast of how she behaved in the last five years, the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in a rare gesture has made an appeal in the social media requesting people to refrain from making any nasty comments against the actor-turned-politician former union minister for women and child welfare Smriti Irani.
Ms Irani, who defeated Rahul Gandhi in the Congress bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh in the 2019 elections, had not let any opportunity go to heap humiliation on the “Congress prince” for getting defeated in the elections and had repeatedly taken a dig at the Gandhis, both inside and outside the Parliament saying that “an ordinary BJP worker had sent the Gandhi family packing.” Even in the 2024 elections, Ms Irani had called Rahul Gandhi a “bhageru,” (an escapist) when he decided not to contest against her in Amethi and instead moved to the neighbouring Raebareli, the constituency his mother Sonia Gandhi held, besides continuing for a second term from Wayanad in Kerala.
But Ms Irani, who defeated Rahul Gandhi by over 55,000 votes in 2019, lost to a small time Congress worker but a Gandhi family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma, who was making his electoral debut, by a margin of over 1.6 lakh votes in Amethi, while Rahul Gandhi won from both Raebareli and Wayanad by margins of over four lakh votes. Out of Parliament and the Modi cabinet, Ms Irani vacated her ministerial bungalow in Delhi on Thursday.
Mr Gandhi did not try to give her back in the same coin and instead urged people, particularly the Congress workers, to refrain from “using derogatory language and being nasty” towards Ms Irani. In a tweet on X on Friday, Mr Gandhi, who is now the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha, wrote, “Winning and losing happen in life. I urge everyone to refrain from using derogatory language and being nasty towards Smt Smriti Irani or any other leader for that matter.” “Humiliating and insulting people is a sign of weakness, not strength,” he added.
While it’s not clear what specific instance prompted the appeal, it is in line with Mr Gandhi’s stance that he wants an alternative brand of politics. He has repeatedly said that he wants to open a “mohabbat ki dukaan” (shop of love) in what he has termed an atmosphere of hatred.
Before the elections, there was a strong buzz that Rahul Gandhi would contest against Smriti Irani from the family bastion of Amethi in 2024 and his sister Priyanka Gandhi would fight from Raebareli, another bastion that had been vacated by their mother Sonia Gandhi, who is now a Rajya Sabha MP.
When Mr Sharma’s candidature was announced, Ms Irani had sneered at that time, “I think the Congress nomination and the entire Gandhi family backing out from a battle in Amethi is significant because, as far as I am concerned, it is the proclamation of defeat of the Congress party from Amethi.”
“This is not the first time Mr Rahul Gandhi has run away from Amethi. He had run away in 2019 as well. The only difference is last time he sought comfort in Wayanad and this time he chose not to contest at all. So it is the second time Mr Gandhi shied away from a battle in Amethi,” she had commented then.
After her defeat – which came as a shock to her, the BJP and poll watchers – Ms Irani had said that her spirits were still high. “Such is life… A decade of my life going from one village to another, building lives, nurturing hope & aspirations, working on infrastructure ― roads, naali, khadanja, bypass, medical college and more. To those who stood by me through loss and victory, I am forever grateful. To those celebrating today, congratulations. And to those asking, “How’s the josh?” I say- it’s still high, Sir,” she had posted on X. But after that, Ms Irani, who was a television actress before joining politics, has by and large stayed away from limelight.
