Game is on: Priyanka's campaign sets up Gandhis' virtual 'grudge match' against Irani in Amethi
BJP's high-profile Smriti Irani and the relatively unknown Kishori Lal Sharma of the Congress locked in a fierce contest heading towards a difficult to predict climax. What should be a conventional ending has turned out to be a nail biter with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's spirited campaign for the Congress scripting possible twists and turns in the absorbing electoral battle.
Irani was the quintessential 'outsider', albeit from the BJP powerhouse, in 2019 when she beat former Congress president Rahul Gandhi in the constituency long considered the party's very own. Five years later, Rahul Gandhi has moved to nearby Rae Bareli and Gandhi family aide Sharma is up against the incumbent BJP MP's star power.
It should be an easy contest but it isn't. As people discuss the Ram temple, Modi factor, the Priyanka Gandhi connect and everyday struggles, that's the word on the street in this constituency where no Gandhi family member is contesting for the first time in 25 years.
«If Rahul Gandhi would have been here it would have been different. This is an unusually silent election. Nobody is divulging who they are supporting and for what reasons but this has been a Gandhi family stronghold,» said Ahmed Maqsood, who owns a tailoring shop in the Wahabganj market in Jais on the outskirts of Amethi town.
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