Smriti Irani got Rahul’s message ’loud and clear’

Irani has defeated Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi and when the latter conceded defeat, he asked Irani "to take care of Amethi with love"

Smriti Irani got Rahul's message 'loud and clear'

Smriti Irani

When BJP MP Smriti Irani lost no time in reaching Amethi to meet the family of a former village head who had been murdered, she gave a strong message that she would take care of her constituency.

Irani has defeated Congress President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi and when the latter conceded defeat, he asked Irani "to take care of Amethi with love".

"I have got the message loud and clear. To the person who gave me the message, I would like to say that I have received the message," she told reporters during her visit.

She reached Amethi within hours of learning about the killing and went straight to the home of the deceased Surendra Singh, who had worked relentlessly for her victory, in Barauliya village.

She participated in his cremation and even carried the bier on her shoulders.

She spoke to the family members of the deceased, and said that they were her responsibility and she would take care of them.

She asked party workers to exercise restraint. "Surendra Singh was killed so that Amethi could be ‘terrorised, disintegrated and bow down'. But now development will reach every household of Amethi in the memory of Surendra Singh," she said.

She further said that if needed, she would even approach the Supreme Court to ensure capital punishment for the killers of the former village head.

Ten persons have been detained by the police in connection with the murder that took place early on Sunday when Surendra Singh was sleeping outside his house.

Smriti Irani had won from Amethi with over 55,000 votes, defeating Rahul Gandhi, its three-time MP. She destroyed the Congress bastion and scored one of the biggest upset of these elections.

After scoring the victory, she had tweeted Dushyant Kumar's famous lines, "Kaun kehta hai assman mein surrag nahin ho sakta" (who says you cannot achieve the impossible).

On the other hand, Rukmani Singh, the wife of Surendra Singh, a close associate of Amethi's newly-elected MP Smriti Irani, on Sunday alleged that her husband was killed only because he helped Irani win the recently held polls.

She said, "He did not have any rivalry with anyone. It was only after he supported and helped Irani win that he was killed. He was killed due to politics."

She termed Irani her 'didi' (older sister) and said the BJP leader assured support to the bereaved family.

"Didi came to us and said she will take care of my children as her own. She also said that the whole BJP Samaj is with us," Rukmani said.

Surendra's daughter Pratima Singh added, "Irani ji has given us hope that she is with our family and will look after our security. Two policemen have been sent by them for our safety."

Earlier, Surendra's son had alleged that Congress supporters were involved in the killing of his father.

Surendra Singh was shot by unidentified assailants when he was sleeping in the verandah of his house in Baraulia village of Amethi at around 3 am on Sunday. He was rushed to a trauma centre in Lucknow where he breathed his last.