Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and BJP leaders Smriti Irani and Amit Shah on Tuesday trained their guns on Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and accused him of not taking any interest in his parliamentary constituency Amethi.
Adityanath said Rahul Gandhi is more interested in Italy than Amethi. He also taunted the Amethi MP for not coming to his parliamentary constituency often.
Addressing a public rally in Amethi in the presence of Amit Shah, Union Minister Smriti Irani and other senior party leaders, he ridiculed the Gandhi scion by saying while "all-round development" had been ushered in by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi was still asking what had been done in the past three-and-a-half years of the NDA regime.
"It is not his fault but that of the Italian glasses he wears over his eyes," the monk-turned-politician, known for his acerbic and direct attacks on his opponents, said and dared the Congress leader over the Samrat cycle factory land.
"This land belongs to the people, the farmers of Amethi and cannot just be grabbed by the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation or any family," he said, adding that the land was not "kisi parivar ki bapauti".
Referring to the land grabbing charges against the Congress vice president's brother-in-law Robert Vadra, he said times have changed, the BJP was in charge now.
Lauding the hard work put in by Union minister Smriti Irani for the development of the constituency, he referred to her as the sister of Amethi and pointed out that the "culture of middlemen propounded and patronized by the Congress had come to an end now".
Questioning the contribution of several generations of the Gandhi family towards Amethi and Rae Bareli, the chief minister said Rahul Gandhi will now have to answer why did it take 70 years for a prime minister to work on basic issues like construction of toilets, schools, improving healthcare, houses for the rural and urban poor and timely supply of fertilizers besides other things.
He assured the people of Amethi that the state government would work relentlessly for the poor.
He also used the occasion to target the former Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh.
Adityanath said while a target of 24 lakh houses for the rural poor had been set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Uttar Pradesh government till 2019, and that 9.70 lakh houses had to be built in the first year but the Samajwadi Party government did nothing.
"We, under the guidance of Modi and Amit Shah, have given eight lakh families homes in the rural areas and 1.60 lakh to urban poor in just six months," he stated.
Irani too launched a blistering attack against Rahul Gandhi and alleged that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation in Amethi had not returned land taken from farmers.
"Rahul, who used to talk about relief to farmers, did not return their land taken by Rajiv Gandhi Foundation here," the Union minister said.
Irani further said she wanted to address those who saw Amethi just from the vote bank point of view.
"There is no collector's office here. If Rahul is hearing me today I want to say that you used to talk about development in the country and abroad. You make a mockery of development in Gujarat," she said.
Referring to the closure of a cycle factory called Samrat, she said, "... the country was surprised that the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation, headed by Rahul, which did not do any commercial activities has purchased it. The land should be freed and given back to the farmers."
Irani had created a stir in 2015 when she accused the top Congress leadership of usurping nearly 65 acres of land acquired from farmers for setting up a manufacturing unit, Samrat Cycle, a project that never materialised.
Noting that the BJP won four out of five seats during the 2017 assembly polls when Shah had come here, Irani said, "In 2019 (Lok Sabha polls) BJP will win here."
During the 2014 polls, she said she had gone to a village which had been boycotting elections. "When I asked villagers why they were doing so, they said they could not meet their leader. Then I told them that Rahul might not have time, but I will be available for you and requested the village head to vote," she said.
Irani led a high-voltage campaign against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in 2014. Gandhi secured 4,08,651 votes against Irani's 3,00,748.
Though Irani lost to the Congress vice president in Amethi, she managed to reduce his victory margin from around 3.70 lakh in 2009 to 1.07 lakh in 2014.
Amit Shah too hit out at the Congress scion and questioned what his party had done during its rule.
Shah also slammed Rahul for mocking the development in Gujarat by asking the Congress leader what three generations of his family had done for Amethi.
"He is mocking at the development in Gujarat. I want to ask 'Shahzade' of Congress as to what your three generations have given to Amethi," the BJP president.
"You sought account of our past three years but people of Amethi are taking account of works done here by your past three generations," he said.
On Rahul Gandhi's repeated poser as to what the BJP had done, Shah said, "We have given a prime minister who speaks."
"You have trusted a family for 60 years, now trust BJP and Modi and you will not feel betrayed," Shah told the gathering.
Naming the schemes launched by the Narendra Modi government, he said that 106 projects were launched in the past three years.
"For the first time in 35-40 years, I am seeing that the winning candidate remains missing from his constituency and a defeated candidate is giving time for the people," Shah said, hailing the work being done in the area by Irani.
Irani was defeated by Rahul in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP chief said that Amethi is known all over the world as a Nehru-Gandhi family bastion, but there has been no development.
"Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi will develop UP," he asserted.
Taking a swipe at Rahul, Shah said, "Rahul baba cannot see development as he sports Italian spectacles."
