‘Had Priyanka contested…’: Rahul Gandhi's bold assertion on Varanasi Lok Sabha contest

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday made a bold assertion about the potential outcome of the Lok Sabha general elections, suggesting that if his sister, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, had contested the Varanasi seat, she would have defeated Prime Minister Narendra Modi by a significant margin.

The Bharatiya Janata Party registered its worst performance in Uttar Pradesh since 2014, winning 33 Lok Sabha seats in the recently concluded general elections, four less than the Samajwadi Party's tally. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who even initially trailed in the Varanasi seat against Congress's Ajay Rai, won the seat by a significantly reduced margin of 1.6 lakh.

“Varanasi mein jaan bacha ke nikle hain pradhan mantri,” Rahul Gandhi said at ‘Aabhar Sabha’ in Rae Bareli. “Had my sister contested the Varanasi seat, the prime minister would have been defeated by 2 to 3 lakh votes.”

Read: Number Theory: Why was Modi's victory margin in Varanasi lower?

Rahul Gandhi also extended gratitude to the Samajwadi Party for their cooperation during the campaign. "I want to tell the Samajwadi Party that every single worker of your party cooperated with the Congress in the fight," he said.

"Earlier alliances used to happen, but there were always complaints of non-cooperation. But this time in the alliance, all the allies everywhere across the country fought in cooperation, together."

Read: Giving Rahul to Rae Bareli people, he won't disappoint you: Sonia Gandhi

Gandhi attributed this unity to a growing realisation of the BJP's alleged threats to democratic values.

"It happened because the country realised that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah were trying to play with the Constitution," he said. “The first time we saw India's PM openly doing politics of hate and violence. This was against India's culture and religion.”

Read: Kashi’s huge support my moral victory: UPCC chief

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also lauded the party workers for fighting in “adverse circumstances” and filling up the shoes of Kishori Lal Sharma who contested and won from Amethi.

“You fought in adverse circumstances. For the first time, Kishori Lal Sharma was not here to oversee the election management. He was fighting his election in Amethi,” she said.

This is the first visit of both Congress leaders to Raebareli after Rahul Gandhi won the Rae Bareli constituency in the Lok Sabha elections.