‘Winning & Losing Happen In Life, Don’t Be Nasty Towards Smriti Irani’: Rahul Gandhi’s Appeal

New Delhi: In an age and era when politics in India has become dirty, with leaders often launching personal attacks and maligning those in other parties, Rahul Gandhi tried to set an example with a rare appeal.

Taking to his official X handle, the Congress leader appealed to people to refrain from being “nasty” towards former Union Minister Smriti Irani, who lost in the Lok Sabha election from Amethi.

Irani had defeated Rahul in traditional Congress stronghold Amethi by over 55,000 votes in the 2019 general elections, but lost to Gandhi family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma — who was making his electoral debut — by more than 1.6 lakh votes in the 2024 polls.

In the run-up to the 2024 election, Irani had challenged Rahul to fight from Amethi and taunted him when he chose to contest from Raebareli and Wayanad.

“Winning and losing happen in life. I urge everyone to refrain from using derogatory language and being nasty towards Smt. Smriti Irani or any other leader for that matter. Humiliating and insulting people is a sign of weakness, not strength,” Rahul wrote on Friday.

Irani’s heavy defeat came as a huge shock to the BJP and poll watchers.

Trying to take defeat in her stride, Irani had said the ‘josh’ was still high.

“Such is life… A decade of my life going from one village to another, building lives, nurturing hope & aspirations, working on infrastructure ― roads, naali, khadanja, bypass, medical college and more. To those who stood by me through loss and victory, I am forever grateful. To those celebrating today, congratulations. And to those asking, ‘How’s the josh?’ I say – it’s still high, Sir,” Irani had posted on X.