 "The party office was filled with Narendra Modi’s larger-than-life cutouts and posters. Even children were made to dress up like him | Photo: PTI")
As the numbers flashed for Amethi, a huge cheer went up among the crowd of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) supporters gathered in front of the giant television at the party’s national headquarters in central Delhi. At noon, Rahul Gandhi was trailing Smriti Irani by about 6,500 votes. “Someone get an oxygen cylinder fast — Rahul baba is about to faint,” quipped a BJP worker, a party flag resting on his shoulders.
It turned out that the jibe wasn’t premature. By evening, Irani had emerged as a giant killer, defeating the Congress president in his family bastion by over 50,000 votes.
