'Rahul Sent a Man to Deathbed for Votes... Why Isn't He in Amethi Today?' Smriti Irani Slams Cong Chief

New Delhi: As Amethi went to polls in the fifth phase of the Lok Sabha elections on Monday, BJP candidate Smriti Irani hit out at her opponent Rahul Gandhi and blamed him for the death of a man in an Amethi hospital on Sunday.

The BJP on Sunday alleged that a man in need of medical treatment was turned down by the Sanjay Gandhi hospital in Amethi just because he was a beneficiary of the central government's National Health Protection Scheme.

The allegation was cited by both Union Minister Smriti Irani and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to target Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who they said was a trustee at the medical institution.

Calling the Congress chief inhuman, Irani said, “A person died as he was denied treatment in a hospital where Rahul Gandhi is the trustee, just because he had an Ayushman Bharat card."

Hitting out at the Nehru-Gandhi family, the union minister added, “The family sent an innocent man to his deathbed just for political gains, that is how low they are."

Irani claimed that polls in Amethi this time are more about humanity and less about Gandhi’s capacity.

She attacked Rahul Gandhi for being ‘absent’ from Amethi on the day of voting and questioned why he is not there. "It is for the Congress party to tell the people of Amethi why Rahul Gandhi is absent from Amethi. It is for the workers of Congress party to explain why he is contesting from two constituencies," Irani said, adding that Rahul Gandhi is not just an absentee MP but also an absent candidate.

Irani, for the second time, is pitted against Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, a Congress bastion where the party has lost only two Lok Sabha elections – in 1977 and 1998.

Irani has led high-decibel campaigns in the constituency, highlighting how Rahul Gandhi had neglected Amethi over the years. Her attacks were amplified after the Congress chief’s decision to also contest from Kerala’s Wayanad this time.

The BJP-ruled central government has launched several projects in Amethi like the assault rifle manufacturing unit for which the foundation stone was laid last month by PM Modi.