Gandhis visit Amethi because of BJP: Smriti
October 10, 2017  13:20
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Taking a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Union minister Smriti Irani has claimed that visits by her and senior BJP leaders ensured that the people of Amethi were seeing more of the Congress vice-president.


The Union Minister of Textiles and Information and Broadcasting is on a two-day tour of Amethi, a constituency seen as a Congress bastion.


Speaking to reporters yesterday, she said, "In 2014, I had promised the people of Amethi and of the country that by my repeated visits to Amethi I will ensure that the people would be seeing more of Rahul Gandhi."


Gandhi's one-day visit to Amethi last week was planned after hearing the news of BJP chief Amit Shah's visit to the constituency, she claimed.


Days after Gandhi's visit, the Amethi constituency is gearing up for another high-profile event today as Shah and Irani will unveil a slew of projects.


Amethi had witnessed a high-pitched electoral battle between Gandhi and Irani in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Though she lost, Irani managed to reduce the Congress leader's victory margin from around 3.70 lakh votes in 2009 to 1.07 lakh in 2014. She said a former Congress MLA along with 60-70 village pradhans had joined the BJP yesterday.


"They were anguished as they had devoted their time to the Congress believing that there would be development in the state under the party, especially under the leadership of Gandhi... But due to neglect and insult of the Congress workers, the party leadership in Amethi is leaving Rahulji," she alleged.


"This indicates that the person who had shown dreams of development to the nation failed to bring development to even his constituency. It shows that if the people of Amethi today are banking on any party, then it is the BJP," she claimed.  -- PTI


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