Smriti Irani vacates official bungalow, netizens take jibes

Former Union minister Smriti Irani, who recently faced a humiliating defeat in the Lok Sabha elections against Congress leader Kishori Lal Sharma in Amethi, has vacated her official bungalow on Thursday following instructions from the ministry of urban development to her and 17 other Union ministers to vacate their official residences by 11 July.

In 2019, Irani famously defeated Congress MP Rahul Gandhi from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat. However, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, she was defeated by Gandhi family loyalist Sharma, who secured 539,228 votes against Irani's 372,032, resulting in a margin of 167,196 votes. According to rules, former MPs have to vacate their respective bungalows within one month of the previous Lok Sabha being dissolved.

Irani's routine action, however, seems to have galvanised netizens to take jibes at the former BJP MP. "Now she can comfortably serve the people while living in her home in Amethi. Being an MP, it must have been troublesome to go to Amethi from Delhi again and again. Thank you Amethi!" wrote Rishi Chaudhary on X.

Ritu Chaudhary, Congress communications coordinator for Rajasthan for the Lok Sabha 2024 elections, wrote on X: "Smriti Irani ji, who was celebrating when Rahul Gandhi ji had to vacate his residence after his suspension thanks to a conspiracy, had to vacate her bungalow today after facing defeat at the hands of Kishori Lal Sharma ji in Amethi. It's all a matter of time."

Lok Sabha leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi, who was disqualified from the Lok Sabha in 2023 following his conviction in a defamation case, was instructed to vacate his official residence at 12 Tughlak Lane by 22 April 2023.