"Had my sister contested from Varanasi...": Rahul Gandhi

RAEBARELI: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday asserted that if his sister (Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) had contested the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have lost by two-three lakh votes".

Gandhi was addressing a public gathering in Uttar Pradesh's Raebareli, where he gained a massive victory in the recently concluded LS polls.

"The BJP lost the Ayodhya seat... Not only in Ayodhya, Varanasi mein jaan bacha ke nikle hain pradhan mantri. If my sister (Priyanka Gandhi) had contested from Varanasi, the Prime Minister of India would have lost the Varanasi election by 2-3 lakh votes. I am not saying this with arrogance, but the people of the country have given a message to the Prime Minister that they are against their way of politics", said the Congress MP.

Varanasi, one of the key seats in Uttar Pradesh, was won by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the third consecutive term by defeating Congress candidate Ajay Rai by a margin of 1,52,513 votes.

Rahul Gandhi further said, "I want to thank all the leaders and the members of the Congress party and the people of Amethi and Raebarelli for making us win. This time, the Congress party fought unitedly in Amethi, Raebarelli, Uttar Pradesh and across the country. I want to tell the Samajwadi Party that your leaders fought unitedly with Congress leaders this time."

"Be it Manipur, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh, we fought unitedly. When I contemplate why it happened, I realise that the soul of the country sensed that Narendra Modiji and Amit Shahji were trying to play with the Constitution, which is the very foundation of our country", he added.

The Congress MP further said that the people of Uttar Pradesh voted against "hatred", "violence" and "arrogance".

"Secondly, in 2014, the political landscape of the country witnessed a change. For the first time, we saw that the Prime Minister was doing politics of religion and violence, which is against the culture of the country. The right path was shown by Amethi, Raebareli and Uttar Pradesh. The people of Uttar Pradesh voted against hatred, violence and arrogance", he said.

Rahul Gandhi further said that the people of the country made the Prime Minister bow down to the Constitution.

"You have made Kishori Lal Sharmaji win in Amethi, me in Rae Bareli, and the MPs of the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh... You have changed the politics of the entire country... The public has sent a message to the Prime Minister of the country that if he touches the Constitution, then see what people will do to him. You have made him bow down infront of the Constitution", he said.

Gandhi who contested from two seats -- Rae Bareli and Wayanad, registered victory on both constituencies by huge margins. Rahul Gandhi won the seat of Rae Bareli by defeating BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh by a margin of 3,90,030 votes. He had contested this seat, aiming to save the lone bastion of the party in the state after he lost Amethi in 2019.

The Congress leader also won the seat of Kerala's Wayanad, which paved his entry to the Lok Sabha in 2019. He defeated Communist Party of India-Marxist candidate Annie Raja by 3,64,422 votes.

Uttar Pradesh's Amethi, on the other hand, was bagged by Congress leader and Gandhi family loyalist -- Kishori Lal Sharma. He was pitted against former Union Minister and BJP leader Smriti Irani.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was also present at the public gathering addressed the crowd and affirmed that the party would work for the people with great enthusiasm and dedication.

"Yeh hui na baat...This was a historic victory. I am proud to say that you all sent a message across the nation that you want clean politics in the country...We worked day and night for this result. We are thankful to the people of Rae Bareli for making my elder brother win. We will continue to work for you with double the enthusiasm you have shown for us", Priyanka said.

Meanwhile, the Gandhi siblings also shared an affectionate gesture while they hugged each other on the stage.

According to the Election Commission of India, BJP won 240 seats, much lower than its 2019 tally of 303. The Congress, on the other hand, registered a strong improvement, winning 99 seats. The INDIA bloc crossed the 230 mark, posing stiff competition, and defying all predictions.

For the first time, since the Bharatiya Janata Party swept to power in 2014, it did not secure a majority on its own --- far fewer than the record 303 it won in the 2019 election.

In Uttar Pradesh, the BJP dipped to 33 seats, while the Samajwadi Party (SP) bagged 37 seats. BJP lost Faizabad, which includes the temple town of Ayodhya, to the Samajwadi Party.