'Winning and losing happen in life': Rahul asks people not to be nasty towards Smriti Irani

NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Friday urged people to refrain from using derogatory language and being nasty towards former Union minister Smriti Irani or any other leader.

His remarks come amid some people taking digs at Irani after she vacated her official bungalow following her defeat in the Lok Sabha polls to Congress' Kishori Lal Sharma in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi.

"Winning and losing happen in life. I urge everyone to refrain from using derogatory language and being nasty towards Smt. Smriti Irani or any other leader for that matter," Gandhi said on X.

"Humiliating and insulting people is a sign of weakness, not strength," the former Congress president said.

The BJP's IT department head Amit Malviya hit back at Gandhi, accusing him of putting out a disingenuous message after "unleashing" Congress leaders like "a pack of wolves" on her.

Mavliya said on X, "This is the most disingenuous message, ever. After unleashing Congress leaders, like a pack of wolves, on the woman who defeated him in Amethi and smashed his arrogance to smithereens, this is rich. All this gibberish doesn't take away from the fact that Smt Smriti Irani forced Balak Buddhi to abandon Amethi."

Irani vacated her official bungalow at 28 Tughlak Crescent in Lutyens' Delhi, weeks after she was defeated by Sharma, a close aide of the Gandhi family, from Amethi parliamentary seat with a margin of over 1.6 lakh votes.

The former women and child development minister was dubbed a giant slayer in 2019 after she defeated Rahul Gandhi from the seat.

As Irani vacated her official bungalow, some people took swipes and mocked her over her defeat in the poll.