The elderly street vendor brushed away his friend’s suggestion that he submit an application to Union minister Smriti Irani, engaged in public interaction a few yards away in her constituency of Amethi, seeking financial help.

"It's a waste of time. Win or lose, it’s only Rahul Gandhi in Amethi, the rest are nothing," said the 55-year-old vendor of artificial jewellery.

He requested not to be named as The Telegraph overheard the conversation and approached the duo.

As Rahul’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra on Monday entered Amethi — the family bastion that sent him to Parliament three straight times since 2004 — Irani too rushed to the constituency where she had bested the Congress leader in 2019.

She held her public outreach, the Jan Samvad Vikas Yatra, at 9 places while Rahul’s Yatra stopped at 27 spots, but their paths never crossed. Irani will be in Amethi till Thursday but Rahul will move on to Rae Bareli on Tuesday.

The vendor and his friend said they had come to Irani’s programme, in Tikarmafi, to kill time. In one corner of the ground sat a middle-aged man, who identified himself as Vinod Mishra, writing applications for people.

“I’m a BJP worker and help people by writing their applications and giving them to district-level leaders to be handed over to the MP. She has instructed that as many applications be collected as possible,” Mishra told this newspaper.

Before him stood Sakira Bano, 50, looking to apply for a house, and Shah Jahan, 55, who wants widow pension.

The friend suggested to the vendor that he apply to Irani to pay his son’s tuition fees from her MP’s funds. The young man is doing a diploma in pharmacy from a local college. The vendor dismissed the idea.

"I have submitted a dozen applications personally to the MP in the last five years for financial assistance," he told this newspaper. "Then I realised that it was a waste of time."

The friend chimed in: "Don’t ask what we did in the 2019 elections (reject Rahul). But the truth is that Rahul Gandhi is the only leader here."

BJP sources said Irani would continue to hold outreach meetings for the next two days and then organise a griha pravesh (house-warming ceremony) at her new house in the Gauriganj area of Amethi on Thursday. It would be a message that she will not give up the constituency ever.

Asked about Rahul’s presence in Amethi, Irani told reporters: "Amethi received projects worth Rs 6,523 crore at today’s Groundbreaking Ceremony (an investors’ meeting) in the state capital (Lucknow) under the leadership of chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi."

She added: "There was nobody from Amethi to receive him (Rahul) when he arrived here. They (the Congress) brought people from Pratapgarh and Sultanpur to show a crowd, but the streets of Amethi were empty."

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge stressed Rahul’s deep connection with Amethi although it’s not clear whether Rahul would contest from the constituency this time again.

"Amethi was known across the world because of Rahul Gandhi," Kharge said.

"You (voters) have a strong bond with the family (Nehru-Gandhi). Rahul Gandhi loves you and you love him. You will never find such a good person anywhere else."