A day after he gave seemingly bizarre and evasive answers to a group of schoolchildren in Amethi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday sold dreams of an Amethi that would be as developed as Singapore and California in 15 years.
Gandhi was speaking after inaugurating a school in his constituency. He declared, “After 10-15 years, when people would mention Singapore and California, they will also mention Amethi in the same breath.” Gandhi added the constituency would soon become a world-class education hub, which “no one could prevent from happening.”
Earlier, during his tour of the constituency, Gandhi claimed the Central and state governments, both run by the BJP, were 'halting' progress in the area by taking away big projects. He alleged the Narendra Modi government had shelved plans for an IIT, mega food park and paper mill in the constituency that would have generated thousands of jobs.
Gandhi's visit to Amethi and Rae Bareli, his mother's constituency, comes just days after Information and Broadcasting Minister Smriti Irani visited Amethi. Irani has made frequent visits to the constituency and announced several projects, giving rise to speculation that she could contest the Lok Sabha polls from the constituency again next year. Irani had lost to Gandhi in 2014 from Amethi.
(With agency inputs)