Smriti Irani and Zubin Irani perform puja before Amethi nomination

All pictures courtesy/Twitter/ ANI

BJP leader and Union minister Smriti Irani will file her nomination papers from the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency on Thursday. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders are likely to accompany her. Smriti Irani and her husband Zubin Irani performed a 'puja' (prayer service) ahead of her filing nomination from Amethi parliamentary constituency for Lok Sabha elections 2019.

According to Durgesh Tripathi, the district chairperson of the BJP, Smriti Irani was to file her nomination on April 17, but due to Mahaveer Jayanti, a holiday on that day she changed the date. Amethi figures in the fifth phase of the seven-phased general elections, and voting there will be held on May 6. Irani faces a poll battle with Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who had filed his nomination papers on Wednesday.

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In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi had defeated Smriti Irani by a margin of 1.07 lakh votes. Amethi goes to polls on May 6 in the 5th phase of the elections. Elections in UP are scheduled to be conducted in seven phases starting from April 11 and ending on May 19. The counting of votes will take place on May 23. Attacking Congress president Rahul Gandhi who represents Amethi in the Lok Sabha, she said: "People are saying that Rahul Gandhi won from Amethi and went to Waynad and Smriti Irani despite losing came back to Amethi. This has become a topic of discussion among the voters. "

The Amethi parliamentary constituency, represented in the Lok Sabha by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, has four Assembly segments - Tiloi, Gauriganj and Jagdishpur (reserved) in Amethi district and Salon (reserved) in Raebareli.

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Edited by mid-day online desk with inputs from Agencies