Smriti Irani defeated Congress Rahul Gandhi by a margin of more than 55,000 votes.
BJP leader Smriti Irani who emerged as the giant killer of Lok Sabha election 2019 by defeating Congress president Rahul Gandhi in his family bastion of Amethi said on Friday that her fight was not personal but she was only trying to secure a win for the party in the Lok Sabha constituency.
"I have told this to many people in last five years that whoever gets the ticket the next MP from Amethi would be from the BJP. By God's grace, I am that MP. My aim was that the BJP wins from Amethi," the BJP leader, who served as a Cabinet Minister in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's outgoing government, said.
The TV actress-turned-politician defeated the Congress chief and sitting MP from Amethi by a margin of 55,120 votes. After uprooting Congress president Rahul Gandhi from his party bastion, the BJP leader Smriti Irani had on Friday thanked the people here for "helping the lotus bloom".
"The people of Amethi blessed an ordinary worker of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over a big "naamdaar". And I have repeatedly said in the last five years that my relationship with people of Amethi is based on trust and development. They returned that trust yesterday. It will be a matter of pride for me that I will get to serve the people of Amethi for next five year," Irani told Zee News' Editor In Chief Sudhir Chaudhary in an exclusive interview.
On her personal rivalry with Rahul Gandhi, she said, "Rivalry is between two equals. People from ordinary family meet a lot of people who try to create inferiority complex. What you saw yesterday was the result of an ordinary Indian's resolve. There could be no equality between the two then who is the adversary, where is the fight, where is maliciousness. I also believe that if a person works with malice neither God blesses it nor the people help you."
The BJP leader said she was not trying to defeat the Congress president in Rahul Gandhi but was trying to secure a victory for the BJP.
"I believe that people who are looking for a symbol in my victory, they can take from it that when an ordinary Indian takes a resolve, there is nothing impossible. And probably that is why every BJP worker says "Modi Hai to Mumkin Hai". Why only me, Prime Minister was born in an ordinary family but he reached this position because of his ability."
On being called the giant killer, Irani said, "If you want something to take from my win, you have to listen to my husband who said, 'never challenge an ordinary housewife."
When asked about her future plans, Irani said, "My son is going to university this year. My daughter is still in class 11th and I look for my future in their future."
Earlier on Friday, she thanked people of Amethi. In a tweet, Irani said, "Ek nayi subah Amethi ke liye, ek naya sankalp. Dhanyawad Amethi, shat shat naman. Apne vikas per vishwas jataya, kamal ka phool khilaya. Amethi ka abhaar" (A new morning for Amethi, a new resolve. Thankyou Amethi. You showed faith in development and helped the lotus bloom).
In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, Gandhi had defeated Irani by 1,07,903 votes.
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