The BJP has been making every possible attempt to make a big dent in pocket borough of the Congress—Amethi and Raebareli. BJP national president Amit Shah’s visit to Amethi on Tuesday proved again the fact that the saffron party will leave no stone unturned to make sure that they win these seats in the 2019 general elections.
Six out of 10 assembly constituencies in these two districts are already with the saffron party. The party wants to avenge the defeat of Union minister Smriti Irani who had lost to Rahul Gandhi despite giving a tough fight to him in Amethi.
Amit Shah has been making things difficult for the Congress scion especially after Congress leader Jang Bahadur Singh quit the grand old party to join the BJP. Singh was with the BSP before joining the Congress.
The exit of Singh was a big jolt for the Congress at local level. He had said he made up his mind to quit the Congress because development in the area came to a grinding halt under Congress while it picked up momentum under the BJP.
During this visit to Amethi, Shah was ruthless in his tirade against Rahul Gandhi. “The Congress has been asking Modi to give the account of his three-year rule while people of Amethi have been asking what have you done for them in the last three generations,” Shah said.
Shah also dedicated public development work worth Rs 47 crore in Amethi. The message he wanted to send out was clear—the Congress failed in ensuring development of people in the Lok Sabha constituency of Rahul Gandhi.
The BJP’s strategy is to poach local leaders and consolidate its position for upcoming Lok Sabha polls. Three months ago when Shah visited Lucknow, two MLCs belonging to SP–Bukkal Nawab and Yashwant Singh– nd one from BSP – Thakur Jaiveer Singh—had joined the BJP.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath and union minister Smriti Irani too targetted the Congress.
Irani said, "the main resentment of those who left the Congress is that party neglected them and the Congress failed to bring development here as promised by its leaders.”
In 2014 Lok Sabha polls Amethi and Raebareli were the only seats which the Congress could win in the state.
To counter BJP’s claim, Congress leader Akhilesh Pratap Singh said the Modi government has stalled many development projects initiated by the UPA government.
District spokesperson of Congress Anil Singh said the BJP is taking credit for those projects which the party did not even begin.
