Posters have sprung up across the 13 blocks of Amethi, asking for the whereabouts of its MP Smriti Irani.
These black and white posters—with a photograph of the Union minister but without the name of any individual or organisation claiming responsibility for putting up the same—say that Irani had registered her presence “just for a few hours on two days in one year” after her election in 2019.
The words in the poster could be loosely translated as: “We have seen you play antakshari on Twitter, give food to some individuals; but the people of Amethi are looking for you to address their needs and difficulties. Leaving the people of Amethi without help depicts that Amethi is just a tour hub for you. Will you only come to Amethi to lend a shoulder to it.”
The last line is a reference to Irani’s visit to Amethi just days after wrestling the constituency from the then Congress president Rahul Gandhi in one of the most surprising Lok Sabha poll victories. She had come for the last rites of party worker Surendra Singh, who was shot dead on May 25 last year, and shouldered Singh’s bier. She had vowed to ensure justice in the case that was then believed to have been a fallout of political rivalry with the Congress.
Though no one has claimed responsibility for the posters, Govind Singh, Amethi based media spokesperson for the BJP, dubbed the move as ‘malicious propaganda’. “Across the country the Congress has been indulging in such things. The MP has been constantly in touch with the people of her constituency through her representatives. In addition to masks, sanitisers and ration, she has organised the return of 20,000 people from every part of the country”, Singh told THE WEEK.
However, according to the state government figures, the number of migrants who have returned to Amethi is higher than this.
Singh added that there was currently no information about when Irani would be able to visit her constituency. “She has repeatedly emphasised that the local party machinery and the organisations through which relief material is being distributed maintain social distancing. It does not matter where she is, the welfare of her constituency has been her top priority”, he said.
Rahul Mishra, the state’s Indian Youth Congress spokesperson, told THE WEEK that the party had nothing to do with the posters. “In the past, posters have also come up asking for the whereabouts of Rahul Gandhi. The people of Amethi want to know what their MP and the minister has done specifically for them during the pandemic. Only those people who are being identified because of their connect with the party are receiving any help from the BJP. Beyond what the administration and police are doing as their duty, Irani should tell people what she has done in her personal capacity”, he said.
Mishra added that while the state government had widely publicized the act of getting the students back from Kota during the lockdown, Amethi’s former MP had gotten back people on his own expense.
“Even the murder case about which she had created such a hue and cry is languishing”, Mishra said.
