Amethi, May 23: Smriti Irani, Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader, who won the Amethi seat in a landslide victory, thanked the voters of the constituency for having faith in her. Irani toppled Congress President Rahul Gandhi from his pocket borough of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh and bagged the seat with a massive win. The BJP leader and Union Minister took to Twitter and savoured her victory by writing a couplet on Twitter. "With a new morning for Amethi, there is a new resolution. Thank you Amethi. Lotus bloomed as you showed trust. I am thankful to Amethi," she said in a tweet. Smriti Irani Creates History By Winning Congress Bastion Amethi Lok Sabha Seat. 

In the Amethi seat, which is a high-profile seat, Irani defeated Gandhi with margin of 55,120. The victory can be attributed to Irani as she managed to establish a strong voter base in the constituency. After she lost to the Congress President in the last elections held in 2014, Irani wooed voters with her numerous visits and implementation of central development schemes in past five years.

Here's the tweet  by Smriti Irani:

With Irani's win, Amethi snapped its 39-year long relationship with the Gandhi family.  With the hope for the future,  Irani kept campaigning in Amethi even after she lost the seat in 2014 by a margin of over one lakh votes.

The Amethi seat was first won by the Congress in 1980 and has remained with the Congress, barring one year when the BJP won the seat. In 1980, Sanjay Gandhi had won the seat but after his death, Rajiv Gandhi won the seat in a by-election in 1981 and retained the seat in 1984, 1989 and in 1991.

In 1991 and 1996, Captain Satish Sharma, a friend of the Gandhi family won the seat. However, in 1998, the BJP came to power when Sanjay Singh was elected. A year later, Sonia Gandhi entered politics and won the Amethi seat which she retained till 2004. Rahul Gandhi won the seat in 2004, 2009 and 2014.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on May 24, 2019 12:32 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).