Union Women and Child Development Minister Smriti Irani on Sunday hit out at former Congress president Rahul Gandhi over his recent remarks in the UK, saying he apprehends defeat in the 2024 general elections.

Irani was speaking to reporters after inaugurating a pontoon bridge in Amethi's Jagdishpur. She also said the Gandhi family reached the pinnacle of power on the shoulders of the people of this Lok Sabha constituency and then forgot about them.

Responding to a question of Gandhi's recent statement of democracy being under attack in India, the Union minister said, "It is natural for him to shed tears due to his defeat in Amethi. Today, the country has become the world's fifth economic power. But instead of respecting it, Gandhi's unrestrained statement shows he has an apprehension that he will be defeated again in 2024." Irani defeated Gandhi in the Amethi parliamentary constituency in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

"The Gandhi family never understood the pain and suffering of the people here (Amethi) and did not think about the development of the area," she added.

"I have been in Amethi for the last eight years... everyone in Amethi respects everyone. This is why I am proud that I have been honoured as 'Didi' (elder sister) in Amethi," the minister said.

Gandhi had on March 6 told British parliamentarians in London that functioning microphones in the Lok Sabha are often silenced against the Opposition. He made the comment during an event organised by veteran Indian-origin Opposition Labour Party MP Virendra Sharma in the Grand Committee Room within the House of Commons complex.

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