Smriti Irani mocks Rahul Gandhi, dares him to contest LS polls from Amethi alone
Amethi, Feb 19: Union minister Smriti Irani on Monday claimed that deserted streets welcomed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi when he arrived here as part of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and dared him to contest from Amethi alone in the Lok Sabha elections.
Both Gandhi and Irani were in the Amethi parliamentary constituency, where the BJP leader had in 2019 humbled Gandhi who is now the MP from Kerala's Wayanad.
"Rahul Gandhi considered Amethi as the centre of power but did not provide service, that is why he was welcomed by the deserted streets of Amethi. Congress workers who welcomed Rahul Gandhi did not participate in his yatra due to which the Congress had to call workers from Sultanpur and Pratapgarh," Irani told mediapersons.
"Amethi's former MP insulted the people of Amethi in Wayanad. Amethi was distressed due to this. Ram Lalla's invitation was rejected by him and his family. Amethi is distressed due to this also," she said, adding, "I dare him (Rahul) to contest from Amethi alone in the Lok Sabha elections."
Gandhi had represented Congress bastion Amethi in the Lok Sabha for 15 years before he was defeated by Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The Congress leader, however, won from Wayanad, the second seat he contested in the elections.
Referring to this, Irani said Amethi decided to bring a change in 2019 and sent the Gandhi family away. "This is the reason why this family has now also fled from Raebareli ahead of the 2024 polls," the Union minister said.
Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who has represented the Raebareli parliamentary seat since 2004, recently announced that she will not be contesting the Lok Sabha polls this year due to health and age issues.
On the chances of Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav attending the Nyay Yatra, Irani said, "Why would any leader support someone who himself needs support?"Yadav Monday said his party will not participate in the Nyay Yatra till seat-sharing with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh is finalised. The SP chief had earlier said he would join the march in Raebareli.
Irani further said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has worked to increase the business capacity of Amethi through the establishment of small units. "An investment of Rs 6,253 crore has been made in Amethi, 662 projects have started. The Coca-Cola factory established in Ramganj Trishundi, Amethi, is the largest in South Asia. The biggest enterprise is the country's largest hatchery and poultry feed established in Amethi," she added.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
