Biggest upset: Rahul Gandhi loses Amethi, a Gandhi family bastion

Indian National Congress (INC) President, Rahul Gandhi has lost Amethi, a seat considered Gandhi family bastion in the 2019 Indian election.

Congress President Rahul Gandhi speaks at a press conference at All India Congress committee headquarters in New Delhi, India. Source: Raj K Raj/Hindustan Times/Sipa USA

Congress President Rahul Gandhi has faced a humiliating defeat in Amethi, Uttar Pradesh, a Lok Sabha seat considered a Gandhi family bastion and held by the Gandhi family since 1999.

Source: ECI

On Friday, Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP)’s Smriti Irani who defeated the three-time MP, Rahul Gandhi, thanked the people of the Amethi constituency.

“The public is the master and the master has made its decision,” Mr Gandhi told a press conference in Delhi.

"Smriti Irani [of the BJP] has won in Amethi and I congratulate her. The people of Amethi have given their mandate," Mr Gandhi said.

Amethi has been a traditional Gandhi bastion for decades, having been represented by four members of the Gandhi family since 1980.

Rahul’s uncle, Sanjay Gandhi, father, Rajiv Gandhi and mother Sonia Gandhi won the seat in 1980, 1981, 1984, 1989, 1991 and 1999 before Sonia vacated the seat for son, Rahul, who won the seat thrice, in 2004, 2009 and 2014.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi speaks to the audience during a political rally on May 13, 2019 at Hoshiarpur, India. Source: AAP Image/Pardeep Pandit/Hindustan Times/Sipa USA

Rahul Gandhi though will continue to be in the Parliament, after having won from his second seat, Wayanad, Kerala in India’s South.

On Thursday, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) won the election in a landslide victory claiming more than 300 seats of the 543 seats.

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