Amethi rout stuns Rahul Gandhi, Amit Shah says Cong ‘jave chhe’

LUCKNOW: The defeat of Congress in Amethi, the pocket borough of its vice-president Rahul Gandhi, in the UP civic polls on Friday prompted an emboldened BJP to pick holes in his Gujarat campaign. Congress lost both municipal board seats — Gauriganj and Jais — in Amethi. Its loss in Gauriganj came as a setback as the candidate couldn't even secure enough votes to save her deposit.

Taking a jibe at 'Congress ave chhe (Congress coming to power)' slogan given by the party in Gujarat, BJP national president Amit Shah tweeted: "Gujarat mein Congress ke neta kahte hain ki Congress ave chhe, ave chhe jabki Amethi-Rae Bareli ki janata kahti hai ki Congress jave chey, jave chey (Contrary to Congress slogan in Gujarat, the people of Amethi-Rae Bareli are saying, 'Congress is vanishing')"

Securing just 1,088 of the 15,209 votes polled, Congress candidate from Gauriganj, Geeta, finished fourth. SP's Rajpati won the Gauriganj seat securing 5,486 (37.22%) of the total votes. BSP candidate Tara finished second with 27.76% (4,091 votes) followed by BJP candidate Gita Devi who got 3,299 (22.38%) votes.

In Jais, Congress's Israt Husain lost to BJP's Mahesh Pratap. While Israt secured 23.27% of the total votes polled, Mahesh secured 27.25% votes. Rae Bareli municipal board chief poll turned out to be a face saver as Congress candidate Poornima Srivastava beat her nearest competitor.

Securing 24,205 votes, Poornima defeated SP's Nasreen Bano with 4,075 votes. BJP's Sonia Rastogi finished third. However, Congress scored badly in nagar panchyat seats in Rae Bareli.