Smriti Irani performs ’griha pravesh’ pooja at new Amethi home ahead of 2024 Lok Sabha elections

Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani and her husband Zubin Irani on Thursday, February 22 performed the ‘griha pravesh’ pooja at their new residence in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi. The pooja, led by a priest from Ujjain, started on Wednesday, news agency ANI reported.

The griha pravesh pooja—a housewarming ceremony—is a customary Hindu ritual performed to bring good fortune on the day when a person steps into a new house. The ritual is performed to purify the surroundings and protect the house and new residents from any negative energy.

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In 2019, when Irani wrested the Lok Sabha seat from former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, she had promised her voters that she would build a permanent house in the constituency.

The property, located in the village of Mawai in Gauriganj Tehsil, was purchased in February 2021. The minister bought 11 biswa of land to build the house, according to a Times of India report.

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The housewarming ceremony comes months ahead of the Lok Sabha election in 2024 in which Amethi may witness another high-profile fight as the grand old party has not given up hopes on its old fort and has negotiated for the seat with INDIA bloc ally Samajwadi Party.

Earlier this week, Irani—who was on a four-day visit to her parliamentary constituency —launched a scathing attack on the Congress and said that the empty streets that greet Rahul Gandhi reflect the anger of the people of Amethi towards the Gandhi family.

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"The anger of the people of Amethi against the Gandhi family is visible. Today, when Rahul Gandhi arrived, he was welcomed by empty streets. The anger of those who were deprived of development in Amethi has today transformed into empty streets for the visit of the Gandhi family, " ANI quoted the women and child development minister as saying.

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"The people of Amethi also haven't forgotten that this particular person had mentioned Amethi and said 'yaha ke logo ki samjh theek nahi hai'. This is the reason why the people of this constituency are angry," she further said.