Congress govt fell after Rahul Gandhi was launched, says CM Mohan Yadav

SAGAR: The Congress government was stable from 2004 to 2014 but it fell when Rahul Gandhi was launched, said Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav at a public meeting in Sagar on Sunday.

"He (Rahul Gandhi) himself does not know what he is going to do. From 2004 to 2014, the Congress government was running well but as soon as Rahul Gandhi was launched, the government fell along with 150 MLAs. In 2019, he was launched again when he was made the national president but only 52 (MPs) remained from 150, and he had to resign from the post," Yadav said.

The BJP leader accused Rahul Gandhi of lacking courage and avoiding a head-to-head battle n a constituency it once considered a stronghold.

"They still not stopping. Near Raebareli is Amethi, where Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi by a large margin (in 2019). Because of losing, he ran to Wayanad. But BJP fielded Smriti Irani from Amethi and challenged Congress, asking Rahul Gandhi to come and fill out the form in Amethi too and face the election," Yadav said.

Rahul represented Amethi in the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2019. His father and former Prime minister Rajiv Gandhi also represented Amethi in the Lower House of Parliament for 10 years from 1981.

"However, he turned out to be such a coward that not only did he not contest, he didn't even wait for the results. As he was arriving, he reversed his car, saying let's not go to Amethi and headed straight to Raebareli. He doesn't even have the courage to contest in his seat, which Congress has held for years (Amethi)," he added.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi filed his nomination from Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli Lok Sabha constituency on Friday.

Rahul was accompanied by Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and her husband and businessman Robert Vadra.

Congress announced Rahul Gandhi as the party candidate from Raebareli, the seat vacated recently by his mother Sonia Gandhi when she became a member of Rajya Sabha.

Rahul is pitted against Congress defector and three-time MLC Dinesh Pratap Singh in Raebareli. A sitting MP from Kerala's Wayanad, Rahul is also seeking a fresh term in the Lower House from the seat that polled in Phase 2 of the general elections on April 26.

Earlier, Union Minister Smriti Irani said that Congress had conceded defeat from the constituency even before a vote was cast, adding that the opposition party would not have fielded a "proxy candidate" (Kishori Lal Sharma) if they were hopeful about the outcome of the polls.

"I welcome the guests to Amethi. The fact that the Gandhis are not fighting in Amethi shows that even before a vote has been cast, they are losing from Amethi. If they had seen even a glimmer of hope, they would have contested and not put up a proxy candidate," Smriti Irani told reporters in Amethi.

Smriti Irani said that Rahul Gandhi's candidature from Raebareli is a "victory" for the people in Amethi.

Amethi and Rae Bareli will vote in the fifth phase on May 20.

Lok Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh are being conducted in four phases. The first phase of polling was held on April 19 and the second phase was concluded on April 26.

The next two phases will be conducted on May 7 and May 13. The counting of votes will be held on June 4.