"KL Sharma is enough for Smriti Irani in Amethi": Congress leader Ashok Gehlot

Amethi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 12 (ANI): Former Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said that Congress candidate KL Sharma is "enough" for BJP's incumbent MP Smriti Irani as he is the "familiar face" in Amethi for the past 40 years.
Notably, the Congress has fielded Sharma, replacing Rahul Gandhi, on the last day of filing nominations in Amethi on May 3. Gandhi who has been wining from Amethi since 2004, lost to Irani in 2019 parliamentary polls. The Congress has fielded the former Amethi MP from Raebareli.
Gehlot told ANI that Sharma has been working for the welfare of the Amethi people for the past 40 years.
"Rahul Gandhi is not contesting from Amethi because KL Sharma has been a ground-level worker for the past 40 years and he is enough for Smriti Irani. Rahul Gandhi will definitely win the Raebareli seat. KL Sharma is a familiar face for the people here. He has worked for the welfare of the people. What could be better for the people than getting a person who has been working for them for so long," he told ANI on Saturday when being asked how he sees the contest in Amethi.
Gehlot emphasised that the Congress will handsomely win both the Amethi and Raebareli seats, where voting will be done in the fifth phase on May 20.
"If you go to both areas, you will find that there is a one-sided fight. Smriti Irani is also a Union Minister and people expected a lot from her. In 2014 and 2019, she spread a lot of confusion against Rahul Gandhi and in 2019, she got success," Gehlot added.
Sharpening his attacks on the BJP, the Congress leader said that with the conclusion of the first, second and third phases of the Lok Sabha elections, it is becoming clear that the BJP government will go.
"The BJP thought that 'Abki baar Modi Sarkar' and 'Modi ki guarantee' would win elections for them but it is not so. That's why Modi Ji is also scared and calling our manifesto that of the Muslim League, and that Congress will snatch Mangalsutra...," he said.
He also mentioned that Congress 'Nyay Patra' is not just a manifesto but a document of the future.
"This is a revolutionary document. The more we go deeper into this, the more we will know that the future belongs to the young generation," Gehlot said.
Further, responding to PM Modi's 'Ambani-Adani' remarks on Rahul Gandhi and Congress, Gehlot said that Rahul Gandhi has been saying from the beginning that the 70 per cent wealth of the country is with the 22 industrialists.
"When their loans can be waived, then why are farmers not forgiven? Modi ji is saying that since the elections have started, Rahul Gandhi has stopped taking the names of Ambani-Adani but Rahul ji has been talking about them since the beginning. The CBI or ED should register a case as the Prime Minister is claiming that Congress got truckloads of black money. How did the PM know that so much money was coming to Congress? The Prime Minister is a model for the country. The way Modi ji is giving speeches these days, what inspiration will the country take from him?" he said. (ANI)