Lok Sabha polls: Robert Vadra to contest against Smriti Irani in Amethi? Priyanka Gandhi's husband says ‘I get requests’

Lok Sabha Elections: Robert Vadra, businessman and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's husband, on Thursday, said Amethi's people want him to contest from the constituency against the sitting MP Smriti Irani in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

"...The people of Amethi expect me to represent their constituency if I decide to become a member of Parliament...For years, the Gandhi family worked hard in Rae Bareli, Amethi and Sultanpur...The people of Amethi are really troubled by the current Member of Parliament, they think they have made a mistake by electing her..." Vadra told news agency ANI.

"Even I get requests from Amethi people that if I join politics, I should choose Amethi. I remember, my first political campaign with Priyanka was in Amethi in 1999," Robert Vadra said.

Hinting at his intentions to debut as a politician, Robert Vadra said, “I want Priyanka (Gandhi) to become an MP first and then I feel I can also come.” 

"I interact with people and there are MPs from different parties. They (MPs) ask me to come along with their party and ask me the reasons for the delay. They also assure me of their support...So different parties across the country are asking me to come along...I have friendships with a lot of people above the party lines," Vadra added. 

Robert Vadra's statement comes even as the Congress has not yet declared candidates for the Amethi and Rae Bareli seats. Congress MP Rahul Gandhi lost the Amethi seat to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Further, in Rae Bareli, the Congress bastion fell vacant after its MP Sonia Gandhi, decided to opt out of contesting Lok Sabha polls. The former Congress president took oath as a Rajya Sabha MP from Rajasthan on April 4. 

Meanwhile, Union Minister Smriti Irani, on Thursday, came down heavily on Rahul Gandhi and alleged that he was taking support from the leaders of the banned outfit, Popular Front of India.

Smriti Irani has been campaigning in Kerala's Wayanad, which is also the Lok Sabha constituency of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. This move by the BJP leader is being seen as Irani's challenge to Rahul Gandhi as she has defeated Rahul from Amethi, which used to be a stronghold of the Congress ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.