Nadda slams Rahul for leaving Amethi, bats for Smriti Irani
Urging people to vote for Union minister Smriti Irani who had in 2019 defeated Rahul Gandhi from Amethi and is now recontesting from the place this time against Gandhi family loyalist KL Sharma, Nadda also appealed to BJP cadres to carry his message to Rae Bareli to ‘expose’ Rahul.
LUCKNOW: BJP chief JP Nadda campaigned in Amethi where he accused Congress leader Rahul Gandhi of ‘running away’ from the constituency after his 2019 loss, first to Wayanad and now to Rae Bareli.
Addressing a public meeting at Amethi’s Ramlila ground on Tuesday, Nadda said, “This shows the political character of the leader who ran away from Amethi to Wayanad in 2019 and has now decided to skip Amethi and settle for Rae Bareli.”
Urging people to vote for Union minister Smriti Irani who had in 2019 defeated Rahul Gandhi from Amethi and is now recontesting from the place this time against Gandhi family loyalist KL Sharma, Nadda also appealed to BJP cadres to carry his message to Rae Bareli to ‘expose’ Rahul.
“One who couldn’t be yours can hardly be expected to be with Rae Bareli. Please carry my message to Rae Bareli people,” Nadda said while accusing the “Gandhi family” of using Amethi to win elections and disappear after winning. Smriti Irani, who was campaigning elsewhere, also joined Nadda’s meeting towards the end of the event.
“Earlier their candidates would invoke Nehru and Indira, win elections, and leave for AC rooms in Delhi. Wasn’t this the case? The Gandhi family won from here so many times, and yet there were scores of villages without power or roads, but shameless politicians didn’t budge. Now, due to Modi’s vision and Smriti’s dedication, Amethi is developing. This development journey needs to continue,” he said.
“You are lucky that your candidate, Smriti Irani, has worked hard to improve your lot, unlike your ex-MP who ran away to Wayanad in 2019 and now to Rae Bareli. This showcases a leader’s character and his politics. Do you want such leaders?” he asked while interacting with the audience.
“It’s clearly Modi vs. an alliance that is only bothered about their family and corruption. While Modi says remove the corrupt, they favour saving the corrupt. Congress has been synonymous with corruption, and a whole lot of opposition leaders, right from Rahul Gandhi to Sonia Gandhi, Chidambaram, Lalu Yadav, Arvind Kejriwal, Manish Sisodia, Satyendra Jain, and K Kavitha, are either in jail or out on bail,” he said.
“These days, Rahul Gandhi is moving with a copy of the Constitution to slam the BJP over quota dilution. The fact is that Modi has guaranteed there would be no tinkering with the Constitution, in contrast to Congress’s moves in Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka to dilute the OBC quota and benefit Muslims,” he added.
He said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, a ‘culture and politics of development’ had started in the country.
“We have always presented our performance report card to the people and have followed a policy of benefiting all, appeasing none. Post-COVID-19 pandemic, when the economies of Europe, the US, and Russia are tottering, India has jumped from being the 11th largest global economy to the fifth. Over the next five years, India will become the third-largest global economy,” he said.
“India is now the dispensary of the world, manufacturing cheap and effective medicines for humanity. COVID-19 vaccines were a case in point. From an India of the times of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and Sonia Gandhi, which was dependent on others, to a self-reliant country under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the country has come a long way from the old days,” he said.
“Free rations and Modi’s leadership helped 25 crore Indians come out of poverty. In 1993, when I became an MLA, my block development officer would tell me that 2 Indira Awaas Yojana houses had been sanctioned and seek my approval on whom to allot them. Now, under Modi, 4 crore houses have been built, and each Panchayat is getting at least 40 houses. After the 2024 win, three crore more houses will be made for the poor. Over the next 5 years, the Modi plan is to reduce your power bills by tapping into solar power. The Jal Jeevan Mission has covered 11 crore people, of which 2 crore beneficiaries are from UP, and 3 lakh such houses are in Amethi alone. About 10 years ago, there were hardly any smooth roads in Amethi, but today there is a network of roads and bridges,” he said.
