I Worked In Amethi For 5 Years, Rahul Gandhi Was Absent For 15: Smriti Irani

In an exclusive interview with NDTV, the Union Minister said "inter-generational poverty" in the former Congress bastion has been a challenge.

Rahul Gandhi chose not to fight from Amethi because doing so would have been tough and the contest in the constituency is a reflection of the work she has done for five years and his "absence" of 15 years, Union Minister Smriti Irani has said.

In an exclusive interview with NDTV days before the constituency votes on Monday, the BJP leader spoke on a range of issues, including her and her party's development credentials, the differences in people's lives since she became the MP in 2019, the Ram Temple, employment generation and the Prajwal Revanna sex crimes case. 

The Women and Child Development Minister and sitting MP from Amethi is the BJP candidate from the constituency, which she had lost to Rahul Gandhi and then won in 2019. The defeat came as a shock to the Congress because the constituency was a party and Gandhi family bastion, having been held nearly uninterrupted since 1967.