In a massive blow to Congress, Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi by a margin of 55,120 votes in Amethi, UP.
The Congress president was trailing at his bastion as Irani consolidated her lead. However, when the counting commenced early on Thursday, Rahul was leading the race. The tables turned quickly as the gap between votes polled for Irani and Gandhi steadily increased throughout the day and ultimately resulted in a massive loss for Rahul.
Later in the day, the Congress president addressed the media on the results of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and conceded defeat in Amethi and congratulated Smriti Irani.
The Amethi Lok Sabha seat was a key electoral battle in Uttar Pradesh, as Union Minister Smriti Irani, took on Gandhi in the Congress stronghold after facing defeat in the seat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Gandhi has represented the Amethi Lok Sabha seat for since 2004.
However, in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Irani gave a tough fight to the Congress chief as she campaigned extensively in the constituency. She had also mocked Gandhi for failing to reach Amethi on the day of polling, as the Congress chief was busy with other electoral commitments.
After Irani emerged as the clear winner in the battle, social media was full of funny and creative memes about the much-talked-about the constituency. A large number of netizens compared her to Game of Thrones’ Jaime Lannister who earned the moniker of ‘Kingslayer’ after killing the "Mad King" Aerys Targaryen in the coup that put Robert on the Iron Throne.
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