Congress MP Rahul Gandhi, who had lost 2019 general elections from Amethi seat of Uttar Pradesh to Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Smriti Irani, made an appeal to people to not be "nasty" towards the latter.
BJP Smriti Irani, who had defeated Rahul Gandhi in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections from Amethi, lost this time from the same constituency to Congress leader Kishori Lal Sharma with a margin of over 1.5 lakh votes.
Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, contested from two seats - Raebareli in UP and Wayanad in Kerala - and won from both. He later gave up the Wayanad seat, where he won for the second consecutive time, and retained the Raebareli seat.
On Friday, Rahul Gandhi took to microblogging platform X over "Derogatory language" towards Smriti Irani. Rahul Gandhi said, "Winning and losing happen in life. I urge everyone to refrain from using derogatory language and being nasty towards Smt. Smriti Irani or any other leader for that matter. Humiliating and insulting people is a sign of weakness, not strength."
Smriti Irani Vacates Official Bungalow
Smriti Irani was among four former Union ministers who vacated their official bungalow in Lutyens' Delhi, sources said on Thursday. A high-level meeting was held on the allotment of bungalows to new ministers, sources cited by news agency PTI said.
The directorate of estates under the Housing and Urban Affairs (HUA) Ministry allots government bungalows to Union ministers. Union ministers are entitled to type VIII bungalows in Lutyens' Delhi.
Smriti Irani vacated her official bungalow at 28 Tughlak Crescent in Lutyens' Delhi earlier this week. "She [Smriti Irani] vacated her official residence earlier this week," an official said, adding that former ministers and MPs need to vacate their government accommodation within a month after a new government is formed.
Manohar Lal, whose ministry is mandated to allot bungalows to Union ministers, took oath as a Cabinet minister last month.
Officials said that since one month has completed after the new government's formation, the directorate of estates will be starting sending notices to the former ministers, asking them to vacate the government accommodation.
