Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) [India], April 18 : Firing a salvo at Union Minister Smriti Irani, who is bidding to win a fresh term in the Lok Sabha from Amethi, Congress national spokesperson Abhay Dubey claimed on Thursday that she would lose the constituency that was regarded as a stronghold of the grand old party before she snapped their winning run there.
Hitting back at the BJP's barbs over the Congress's delay in naming their pick from Amethi, amid continuing rumours that Rahul might enter the fray from the erstwhile Congress stronghold as well, Dubey said even a Congress worker will win against her if given a ticket to contest Amethi.
At a press conference on Thursday at the state party headquarters in Lucknow, Dubey, flanked by party leader Aradhana Mishra Mona, said, "Smriti Irani is a non-resident here and will lose this time. Forget Rahul Gandhi, any Congress worker will win hands-down over the Union Minister and sitting MP if allotted a ticket to contest Amethi. I dare her to list even five works that she did for the people of Amethi," Dubey said.
Taking a further swipe at the BJP, Dubey dubbed the Lok Sabha polls a fight between the BJP and the followers of Sanatam Dharma, saying, "No other party has insulted Sanatan Dharma as much as the BJP. One of our revered Shankaracharyas had objected to the timing of the 'Pran Pratishtha' of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya, saying that it was inauspicious. But they (BJP) paid no heed to it as they wanted to extract political and electoral mileage from sentiments around the opening of the Ram temple. Of the many virtues that we regard and worship Lord Ram for, is that he was willing to lay down his life to honour his word. This was why he went into exile for 14 years. However, the BJP breaks promises every day."