On Tuesday, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi claimed that if his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had contested the election from the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, she would have defeated Prime Minister Narendra Modi by two to three lakh votes.
Rahul Gandhi made the statement in Raebareli, the Lok Sabha seat where he secured victory by a margin of over three lakh votes in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections.
Rahul Gandhi stated, “I am not saying this out of arrogance. I am saying this because the people of India have sent a message to the Prime Minister that they are not pleased with his politics.”
Rahul Gandhi stated, “The people have sent the message that they stand against hatred and violence.”
#WATCH | Addressing a public gathering in Raebareli, Congress MP Rahul Gandhi says, “(BJP) lost the Ayodhya seat… Not only in Ayodhya, the Prime Minister has also saved his life in Varanasi… If my sister (Priyanka Gandhi) had contested from Varanasi, today the Prime Minister… pic.twitter.com/aEWHwaI80b
— ANI (@ANI) June 11, 2024
There was widespread speculation that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would make her electoral debut this poll season, with Amethi and Raebareli Lok Sabha seats being her likely choices. However, Rahul Gandhi chose to contest from Raebareli, his family bastion previously held by his mother Sonia Gandhi.
The Congress fielded KL Sharma from Amethi, and he defeated BJP’s Smriti Irani by a margin of over 1.6 lakh votes.
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Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who contested the Lok Sabha polls from Varanasi, secured victory in the UP seat for a third time in a row. However, his victory margin was less than that of 2019 and 2014.
In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, the NDA secured victory in 293 of the 543 seats, with PM Modi returning for a third straight term. However, the BJP fell short of the majority mark in the Lok Sabha on its own, winning 240 seats.
