Congress Legislator Challenges BJP to Win a Single Booth in Amethi

Lucknow: Congress MLC and general secretary Deepak Singh on Tuesday challenged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to win a single booth from Amethi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Reacting to BJP chief Amit Shah’s recent statement that the party would win the Congress bastion, Singh said he would quit as MLC if the saffron party emerged victorious in a single booth in Amethi. “Let the BJP put its finger on at least one booth they are capable of winning,” he tweeted.

“I would quit if BJP wins (a single booth) in Amethi in 2019 Lok Sabha polls but would Shah follow suit if it doesn’t,” asked the Congress MLC.

He also claimed that several BJP MPs, including top leaders, were planning to change their constituencies. “I plan to follow up the tweet with a letter to BJP chief now. Very soon we would also prepare a list of BJP lies,” he said.

Riding on the Narendra Modi wave in the 2014 general elections, the BJP managed to bridge Congress chief Rahul Gandhi’s victory margin in Amethi. It also embarrassed the Congress in the 2017 assembly elections by winning four seats, even as the grand old party failed to open its account.

BJP leader Dinesh Singh, who recently switched sides from the Congress, said Singh’s challenge was “laughable”. “Look who is talking. Someone who is dependent on Congress top leadership for survival is talking of taking on the chief of the world’s largest political party. Isn’t it laughable?” he asked.

Uttar Pradesh minister Suresh Pasi said, “We accept the challenge to win a booth in Amethi. On the contrary, we challenge them [Congress] to save a certain defeat here in 2019 LS polls.”

The BJP’s vote share in Raebareli, the parliamentary constituency of former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, went from 4 percent in 2009 to 21 percent in 2014. In Rahul Gandhi’s constituency Amethi, the BJP’s vote share rose from 6 percent to 34 percent.

With an eye on polls, BJP chief Amit Shah launched Mission Raebareli in April this year. Hero Bajpai, the BJP incharge for Raebareli, said: “The Congress is talking of Amethi but we are already focused on Rae Bareli now.”

According to information available, the BJP is planning to hold rallies with top leaders to take the government’s schemes to the people.