‘Griha pravesh’ at Smriti Irani’s new Amethi mansion before the election

The griha pravesh ceremonies were carried out in Smriti Irani’s new home in Amethi, the Lok Sabha constituency that she won from Rahul Gandhi in 2019. The minister is married to Zubin Irani. The event takes place months before the Lok Sabha election in 2024, when Amethi may see another intense contest because the Congress is still holding out hope for the seat and has negotiated for it with the Samajwadi Party, an ally of the Indian National Congress.

A few days have gone since Amethi was traversed by Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.

Smriti Irani said in 2019 that if she were elected, she would live permanently in Amethi. She purchased a 15,000-square-foot block of property in the Gauriganj neighborhood in February 2021. Smriti Irani held a ‘khichdi bhoj’ in her new Amethi home in 2023. The griha pravesh ritual took place on Thursday, a year later.

Are all these events setting up another big Smriti Irani vs Rahul Gandhi from Amethi fight? The people of Amethi want Rahul Gandhi to run for the seat, according to Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, but the party’s Central Election Committee will make the ultimate choice. According to Smriti Irani, she also urged Rahul Gandhi to run for office again from Amethi. “I’m glad that Rahul Gandhi is prepared to run for office from Amethi without the backing of Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati, and that Jairam Ramesh has accepted my challenge…As a regular BJP employee, I’m excited about this task. All of us Amethi workers would be waiting for Rahul Gandhi to make this announcement via the CEC today as Jairam Ramesh has already made it known,” Smriti Irani said on Tuesday when she and Rahul Gandhi were in Amethi.

In response to Smriti Irani’s proposed “griha pravesh” in Amethi, which is scheduled to coincide with Rahul Gandhi’s Yatra, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi had said, “Imagine doing Gruh Pravesh after 5 years of winning the constituency, 3 years after buying the land.” Priyanka Chaturvedi said on X, “Imagine the desperation of having to coincide it with a Yatra.”