Rahul Gandhi has conceded defeat against BJP’s Smriti Irani in Amethi who is leading over the Congress chief by around 30,300 votes with 13 more rounds of counting to go. Around 3,00,000 lakh votes are yet to be counted. Attempting to put up a brave face at a post-results press conference, Gandhi also congratulated Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said he respects the people’s mandate. Gandhi has bagged Kerala’s Wayanad constituency by a huge margin, but Amethi was a prestige battle for the Gandhi family which has held the bastion for decades in addition to Sonia Gandhi’s Rae Bareli constituency.

The loss in Amethi constituency adds insult to injury, raising questions over Rahul Gandhi’s leadership and giving ammo to disgruntled allies like the JD(S).