Gandhi bastion falls after 39 years as Smriti Irani stuns Rahul Gandhi in Amethi

NEW DELHI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi won in Wayanad (Kerala) with a margin of 4.2 lakh votes, and Congress bagged 15 seats in Kerala, but it was litle consolation for him on a day when he was stunned in his family bastion of

Amethi

by Smriti Irani.

Rahul’s uncle, Sanjay, father Rajiv and mother Sonia had all won the seat in six consecutive elections since 1980, while Rahul had himself won it thrice from 2004 on. The defeat capped a humiliating day for Rahul, with UPA struggling to improve its 2014 tally. Rahul had Amarinder Singh and M K Stalin to thank for saving his blushes somewhat.

Congress won 8 seats in Punjab, and UPA got 31 seats in Tamil Nadu, with Congress winning 8. To make matters worse, the leader of opposition post may elude the Congress again. While the party had only 44 MPs in 2014, it is expected to finish at 51 this time. The minimum tally required for a party to get the LoP post is 10% of the total strength of

Lok Sabha

, which comes to 54.