Union minister Smriti Irani took a dig at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in Thiruvananthapuram as she said it was her good fortune that she sent Rahul Gandhi away from Amethi to Wayanad. "But why? What were the reasons behind sending him away from there? When he was Amethi MP, 80% people had no electricity; there was no office for the district collector; no fire station; no medical college, no Kendriya Vidyalaya, sainik school, indoor stadium. All these came up after he was sent away from there," Smriti Irani said as she inaugurated the state-level Women Labour Convention organised by the Kerala unit of Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh.

"If he (Rahul Gandhi) remains in Wayanad, Wayanad will suffer the same fate as Amethi. You people have to ensure that he does not remain here," Smriti Irani said.

Smriti Irani defeated Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in the 2019 Lok Sabha election with a margin of around 55,000 votes. Amethi had a long association with the Gandhi family as both Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi represented the seat before Rahul Gandhi became Amethi MP in 2004 and retained the seat in 2009 and 2014. In 2019, Rahul Gandhi contested from both Amethi and Wayanad. After losing to Smriti Irani in Amethi, Rahul Gandhi became Wayanad MP. In March, Rahul Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha after his conviction in the Modi surname case. No bypoll has been announced in Wayanad yet. If the conviction gets stayed, Rahul Gandhi can get back his Lok Sabha seat, but the court has not granted him relief in the case.