Smriti Irani lashes out at Rahul Gandhi; accuses him of abandoning Wayanad like Amethi

Union Minister Smriti Irani, who was in Wayanad to rally support for the BJP candidate from the constituency, K Surendran, has accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of aiming to abandon Wayanad as he did to Amethi.

"Rahul now says Wayanad is his family. He abandoned Amethi, which he had represented for a long time. He ran away from his family there. Now he is doing it to Wayanad with his continuous absence here," Irani told reporters after a road show in Wayanad on Thursday.

Irani's roadshow, held a day after a mammoth roadshow by Rahul in Wayanad, also witnessed a considerable crowd. She also accompanied BJP's Wayanad candidate, party state president K Surendran, for filing nomination.

Irani also attacked the Congress for seeking support from the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI), considered the political arm of the banned Popular Front of India (PFI). She claimed that by seeking support from a political party associated with a banned terrorist outfit, Rahul violated his oath of allegiance to the Constitution.

Accusing the Congress and Rahul of shying away from using the flag of their ally, the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML), at the roadshow yesterday, she said Rahul feared that it would affect him while seeking votes in North India and visiting temples.