New Delhi, June 4 (IANS): Union Minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday thanked party workers and supporters for standing by her side "through loss and victory" as she accepted defeat against Congress' Kishori Lal Sharma from the Amethi Lok Sabha seat from where she was seeking a second term.

In what was labelled as a "shock result" by many poll analysts, Lal beat Irani, who had beaten Rahul Gandhi in 2019, by a margin of 1,67,196 votes.

"Such is life... A decade of my life going from one village to another, building lives, nurturing hope and aspirations, working on infrastructure ? roads, naali, khadanja, bypass, medical college and more," Irani wrote in an emotional post on X after the result was announced.

"To those who stood by me through loss and victory, I am forever grateful. To those celebrating today, congratulations. And to those asking, "How's the josh?" I say- it's still high, Sir," she added.

Earlier, while addressing the media, Irani assured that despite the result she would continue to serve people in the constituency.

"I am especially grateful to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath because it was with their full support that we were able to complete many long-pending works in Amethi in the last five years," said Irani.