Entire oppn with govt after Pahalgam attack: Rahul in Rae Bareli

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said the entire opposition was supporting the measures being taken by the government in the aftermath of the Pahalgam terror attack.

“There was a terror attack in Pahalgam a few days ago. You must have heard of the same. We have made it clear to the government that the entire opposition is with you. Take whatever action you want to,” Gandhi said while addressing booth level workers of the party at Dalmau in Rae Bareli on Tuesday.

Also, Gandhi, who’s the leader of opposition in the Lok Sabha, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating that the incident had outraged every Indian. He demanded that a special session of parliament be convened at the earliest to discuss the terror attack and demonstrate a collective resolve.

At Dalmau, he said the Congress was undergoing a revamp to ensure that the party’s government was formed at the Centre and the way to do so went via Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. “We want to bring about a change and give voice to the poor... We need to get our party strengthened in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh. We will form a strong government of INDIA bloc in Bihar and then in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP will be voted out in the next election and INDIA bloc will form the government in Uttar Pradesh.”

‘Har Ghar Jal a failure in Rae Bareli’

The Rae Bareli MP appeared on a mission as he questioned officials about the implementation of several central schemes in his constituency.

Besides questioning the implementation of Rae Bareli Deen Dayal Upadhyay Grameen Kaushal Yojana there, he also asked officials concerned to form a team with public representatives and check the implementation of Har Ghar Jal scheme in his constituency.

He asked the officials to get a reality check done on those who were given skill training and then a job, and stated that the scheme was not benefiting the people.

“This scheme has failed completely. We got a survey conducted of 25 of those given skill training under the scheme. Out of them, only three have got placement,” said Gandhi while presiding over a meeting of District Development Coordination and Monitoring Committee (DISHA) at Bachat Bhawan here, according to some members who attended the meeting.

Some BJP representatives, present in the meeting, opposed the observations that the scheme was a failure and said some vendors might be responsible for lapses and action may be taken against such vendors. A district officer said: “We have requested the Rae Bareli MP to provide us the details of the survey conducted by him.”

Those aware of the development said the district officials had claimed that nearly 1,100 beneficiaries imparted training in several skills had been placed.

Gandhi also asked the officers to check the implementation of Har Ghar Jal scheme, which aims to provide piped water to households under the Jal Jivan Mission. He said he got nearly 180 piped water supply connections checked in Rae Bareli and many of them have been verified. He said the district officials should work out a visit of UP Jal Nigam officials and public representatives for joint inspection.

He questioned the district administration over Union minister Nitin Gadkari’s announcement on March 2 last year about the four-laning of the Rae Bareli-Lalganj Road and the proposed construction of a bypass between Lalganj and Bachhrawan in Rae Bareli. A member who attended the meeting said the officers had no response.

Gandhi asked the officers to check whether the ‘181’ women’s helpline was responsive, So, an officer dialed the number to verify and handed over the phone to Gandhi there. Those aware of the development said the helpline did not work the last time when Gandhi presided over the meeting of DISHA in 2024.

Uttar Pradesh minister of state (Independent charge) for horticulture and agriculture marketing Dinesh Singh and Amethi MP KL Sharma also had some arguments over the agenda of the meeting with the minister claiming that some of the items had been incorporated therein in violation of the guidelines of Union ministry of rural development.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi unveiled a statue of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose at Civil Lines and inaugurated a solar roof plant and a charging station in his constituency. He also visited the Rail Coach factory in Lalganj area.

On Wednesday, the MP is scheduled to visit Amethi, which he won in 2004, 2009 and 2014 but lost in 2019, and inaugurate an open-heart surgery operation theatre at Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Munshiganj there. He is likely to pay a visit to Indira Gandhi Nursing College at Munshiganj. He will visit the ordnance factory project at Korwa in Amethi. The ordnance factory produces AK-203 assault rifles, a Kalashnikov variant, as part of Indo-Russian joint venture. He is likely to make a brief stop in Kanpur where he will meet the family of Shubham Dwivedi, who was one of the tourists killed in Pahalgam by terrorists on April 22.