As the town of Amethi voted in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Monday, BJP candidate Smriti Irani hit out at her opponent Rahul Gandhi blaming him for the death of a man in an Amethi hospital on Sunday.
It was alleged that a man in need of medical treatment was refused to be admitted by the Sanjay Gandhi hospital in Amethi just because he was apparently a beneficiary of the central government's National Health Protection Scheme. Both, Union Minister Smriti Irani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi targeted Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who they claim was a trustee at the medical institution.
Calling him inhuman, Irani said, “A person died as he was denied treatment in a hospital where Rahul Gandhi is the trustee, just because he had an Ayushman Bharat card.”
Calling out to the Nehru-Gandhi family, the union minister added, “The family sent an innocent man to his deathbed just for political gains, that is how low they are.”
Irani then claimed that polls in Amethi this time are more about humanity and less about Gandhi’s capacity.
She then questioned Gandhi’s absence in Amethi on the day of the election. “It is for the Congress party to tell the people of Amethi why Rahul Gandhi is absent from Amethi. It is for the workers of Congress party to explain why he is contesting from two constituencies," she said, adding that Gandhi is not just an absentee MP but also an absent candidate.
Irani is contesting against Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Amethi for the second time. In 2014, Rahul Gandhi had defeated Irani by a margin of over 1 lakh votes.
Irani has led high-decibel campaigns in the constituency to highlight how Rahul Gandhi had apparently neglected Amethi over the years including his decision to contest from Kerala’s Wayanad too.
On the other hand, BJP has launched several projects in Amethi like the assault rifle manufacturing unit for which the foundation stone was laid last month by PM Modi.