Congress president Rahul Gandhi has conceded defeat against BJP’s Smriti Irani in Amethi who is leading over the Congress chief by around 30,300 votes with 13 more rounds of counting to go.
"Smriti Irani has won and I will tell her just one thing, to take care of the people of Amethi with love, and to keep their trust," Gandhi said.
The Congress chief, who put up a brave face on the poll result day, also congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Congress chief said he and his party respect the people’s mandate.
"I have always said the public is king, and the public has given us their decision. I congratulate BJP for their win. We have to accept their victory although our ideologies have been different and our fight has largely been an ideological one," he said.
With the SP-BSP alliance staying out of the contest in Amethi, Rahul faced a straight fight against Irani who accused him of shifting to Wayanad in Kerala for fear of losing the seat he had represented since 2004.
Amethi was a prestige battle for the Gandhi family which has held the Congress bastion for decades.