Congress Reviews Rahul Gandhi's Defeat To Smriti Irani In Amethi

The Congress is reviewing the defeat of party chief Rahul Gandhi from the family stronghold of Amethi - a defeat that starkly demarcated the extent of the party's setback in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections. The BJP's Smriti Irani won the biggest victory in this election by seizing the constituency which has been voting for the Congress for decades by more than 55 thousand votes.

Rahul Gandhi had contested from a second seat, Kerala's Wayanad -- which he would be representing in the Lok Sabha. Smiriti Irani had projected it as evidence that Mr Gandhi knew he was about to lose in Amethi.

Rahul Gandhi is the second member of the Gandhi family to lose from Amethi. In the 1977 election, which took place after the emergency, Sanjay Gandhi - Rahul Gandhi's uncle - had lost to BLD's Ravindra Pratap Singh. But in 1980, he wrested the seat back.

In 1984, Rajiv Gandhi - former Prime Minister and the father of Rahul Gandhi - beat Maneka Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi's wife who was contesting as an independent.

The last time the Congress lost the seat was in 1998, when the BJP's Sanjay Singh beat Captain Satish Sharma.

Rahul Gandhi has been holding the seat since his maiden election in 2004. He has taken over the seat from his mother, Sonia Gandhi, who moved to neighbouring Rae Bareli.

In 2014, Smiriti Irani first contested from Amethi. While she lost, she had considerably narrowed the gap between the Congress and the BJP. But despite the defeat, she kept on visiting Amethi and ahead of the national election, practically camped out there for three months.

In her campaign speeches, she described Rahul Gandhi as the "Missing MP". Mr Gandhi at the time, was campaigning across the country and the constituency was being nurtured by his sister Priyanka Gandhi.

Mr Gandhi, after the party's resounding defeat in the election, has said he would step down from the party chief's post. He has also asked the Congress to seek a successor not belonging to the Gandhi family. The Congress has not accepted his resignation and both sides are now at an impasse.

Earlier this week, Rahul Gandhi has told ally and Karnataka Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy that will not budge from his decision.