Union minister Smriti Irani working hard to win over Amethi

NEW DELHI: She came, she saw, but couldn’t conquer the Gandhi bastion. For Union minister Smriti Irani, however, the fight for Amethi is far from over.

Three months after she lost her election against Congress V-P Rahul Gandhi, Irani is still working on gaining popularity there. From urging the Union chemical and fertiliser ministry to set up soil testing laboratories in the constituency to dispatching aid for victims of a fire mishap to setting up her own office here, she has initiated a number of steps to build goodwill in the Gandhi pocket borough.

Irani has already visited Amethi once after her defeat. This, sources claim, is just the first of many to come. “She may have lost the election, but there are over 3 lakh voters who voted for her. That is a strong base. To demonstrate her commitment to them, the minister will set up an office in Gauriganj (headquarters of Amethi district) which will act as a bridge between her and the people of Amethi,” said a member of Irani’s team.

During her trip to Amethi, Irani visited villagers in Baraulia whose houses were gutted in a fire on May 19. “She sent across utensils, clothes and food for the victims immediately after she went back to Delhi,” said Chandramouli Singh, general secretary of the BJP unit in Amethi. Irani also intervened and helped in the reinstatement of more than 100 casual labourers who had been sacked from the Bhel factory in Jagdishpur, he says.

The Lok Sabha election in Amethi was a closely fought one with Gandhi winning by his slimmest margin (1.08 lakh votes) in the last 15 years. Gandhi won 2.9 lakh votes in 2004 and 3.7 lakh in 2009. The Congress V-P has often been criticised for not effectively spending the development funds meant for his constituency. Irani, according to sources, is looking to fill this gap by leveraging her position as a minister and addressing Amethi’s concerns in whatever way she can.

Durgesh, a farmer, told ET at the HRD ministry while waiting to meet Irani on Friday: “I am from Jagdishpur and most trains do not stop here. I have come here to request Smritiji to facilitate that.” She has already met railway minister Sadananda Gowda to demand that the Gauriganj station be upgraded and more trains stop in Amethi.