Rajiv Gandhi, then a political rookie, won from Amethi in 1981 after campaigning for just about a month.

Kishori Lal Sharma, office assistant of Sonia Gandhi and another poll debutant, has outdone him by winning the seat after campaigning for just 15 days. That too by defeating a high-profile Union minister.

Rajiv had a "sympathy wave" in his favour — he was contesting a by-election after the death of his younger brother and the incumbent, Sanjay Gandhi, in a plane crash. Rajiv won by 2.27 lakh votes.

Local people said Sharma’s cakewalk win — by 1.67 lakh votes — owed to voter anger against Smriti Irani, the local MP from the BJP and the women and child development minister in the second Narendra Modi government.

There had been confusion about the Congress candidate till the last day of nominations.

Local Congress leaders and workers wanted Priyanka Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi to contest from Amethi but the party decided at the eleventh hour to field Sharma and shift Rahul to adjoining Rae Bareli. Rahul had lost to Irani from Amethi in 2019.

Sharma filed his nomination papers right on the deadline on May 3, hours after his name was finalised. He had just 15 days to campaign — from May 3 till May 18 when campaigning closed for the May 20 vote.

"Rajiv had filed his nomination papers on May 6, 1981, and the election was held after 30 days. The results came out on June 14, which means he became an MP in 39 days (from the day he filed his nomination)," Anupam Pandey, a local Congress leader, said.

"Sharma became an MP in 32 days (between May 3 and June 4, the results day)."

Sandesh Singh, another Congress worker, said: "People were eager to defeat Irani because she misbehaved with everyone. She kept insulting the BJP workers, reporters, ordinary people and officers. While the people were struggling with inflation, she built her house here. No one wanted her to win."

A local BJP leader, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: "It’s true that she didn’t know how to behave with us. She scolded a party campaign manager in full public view barely a week before the polling. There was no chance of her victory. She defeated herself through her own behaviour."

He added: "Sharma would have defeated her even if he had campaigned for just a week."

A senior BJP leader said: "We are reviewing the reasons for our defeat in Amethi at the hands of someone who was never in electoral politics. We will send a report to our central leadership soon."

Rajiv had to be persuaded by his mother and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to join politics and contest the Amethi by-election after Sanjay, elected from the seat in January 1980, died in June.

The Opposition fielded Sharad Yadav as a Lok Dal nominee. The Opposition’s morale was high because Yadav had defeated a senior Congress leader, Govind Das, from Jabalpur in Madhya Pradesh.

But the sympathy wave blew Yadav away.