People of Amethi have already accepted Smriti as their MP: BJP

The people of Amethi have already accepted Union minister Smriti Irani as their MP, the BJP Thursday said as it claimed fear of losing the Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh compelled Congress president Rahul Gandhi to fight from a second constituency in Kerala.

Speaking to reporters at the state BJP office here, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain claimed the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance will win all the 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra.

"Rahul Gandhi has decided to contest from Wayanad (in Kerala) for fear of getting defeated from the Amethi constituency because the people of Amethi have already accepted Smriti Irani as their MP," he said.

Gandhi, the sitting MP from Amethi, will contest from the Congress bastion in Uttar Pradesh and also from Wayanad, where he filed his nomination Thursday.

Irani is the BJP's candidate from Amethi.

Hussain claimed adverse results for the BJP in November assembly polls in three states Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh will not have any bearing on the party's prospects in the Lok Sabha elections.

Citing the example of Delhi, he said, "Issues are different in assembly and Lok Sabha polls. In Delhi, we had won all the seven seats in last Lok Sabha polls, but in the assembly polls later, we could win only three seats (out of 70 in February 2015)."