With 3 Lakh Votes to be Counted, Rahul Concedes Defeat in Amethi

At one point of time, Rahul Gandhi had even established a lead over Irani, but that was eventually lost.

Rahul Gandhi and Smriti Irani. 

(Photo: PTI/Altered by The Quint)

With counting for Lok Sabha elections still underway, Congress President Rahul Gandhi is trailing Union minister Smriti Irani in the Congress bastion of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh by a margin of 35,899 votes, as per trends at 6:02 pm on Thursday, 23 May.

While Gandhi had a lead over Irani much earlier in the day, it did not extend further, and Irani has widened her lead since then to more than 35,899 votes.

In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in Amethi, Rahul Gandhi had managed to secure a victory over Irani, but his winning margin was reduced to just above 1 lakh votes.

Amethi has been a Congress stronghold, and the party has held the seat for more than 30 years, except for 1998-99.

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During the campaigning for the 2019 elections, Irani had accused Rahul Gandhi of ignoring his constituency, and also slammed him for contesting from Wayanad as well.

In Kerala's Wayanad, the Congress chief is leading by a significant margin of more than 5 lakh votes.

As far as the pan-India trends are concerned, the BJP is leading in more than 300 seats, while the the UPA is ahead in just over 80 constituencies.