Rahul Gandhi lost to Smriti Irani by over 55,000 votes from the Amethi seat. (File)

Congress president Rahul Gandhi has sent a team to Amethi in Uttar Pradesh to find out the reason behind his defeat at the hands of BJP leader Smriti Irani from the parliamentary constituency which was considered a stronghold of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

The team comprises AICC secretary Zubair Khan and Congress Raebareli in-charge KL Sharma. Both the leaders have been asked to give a report for the reason for the loss, a senior party functionary from Amethi told news agency ANI.

Mr Sharma was looking after Amethi Lok Sabha seat till 2009 when he was replaced by Chandrakant, a party worker from Madhya Pradesh. He now manages the Raebareli parliamentary seat, which is UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi's constituency.

In the recently-concluded Lok Sabha elections, Rahul Gandhi lost to Smriti Irani by over 55,000 votes from the Amethi seat.