Tuesday, Apr 30, 2024 | Last Update : 07:54 AM IST
Rahul urges Amethi voters to elect him their MP again
Amethi goes to polls in the fifth round of the general election on May 6.
New Delhi: Days before polling in Amethi, considered by many to be the pocket-borough of the Gandhis, Congress president Rahul Gandhi has written a letter to voters there urging them to vote him back as their MP and promising to push schemes for the region “blocked” by the BJP when his party gets to form the government at the Centre.
Amethi goes to polls in the fifth round of the general election on May 6.
“It is my promise to the people of Amethi that the moment the Congress comes to power at the Centre, the schemes blocked by the BJP will be started soonest. On May 6, vote in large numbers to bring back this member of the family,” he wrote in the letter.
The Congress president, who is said to be facing a tough fight in Amethi from Union minister Smriti Irani, has not been seen much in his constituency, which has been managed by his sister and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi.
Speculation is rife in the Congress that if Mr Gandhi wins both Amethi and Wayanad — the second seat from where he is contesting — then he is likely to vacate Amethi for Priyanka.
In the letter on Friday, Mr Gandhi accused the BJP of setting up a factory of lies and distributing rivers of cash to voters.
“Amethi is my family. My Amethi family gives me courage that I stand with the truth, that I can hear the pain of the poor and weak and raise my voice for them and to ensure equal justice for all,” he wrote.
“With your love, I have tried to unite the country from north to south; east to west... My karmbhumi Amethi’s ideology is getting support from across the country,” the Congress president said in his letter.
Amethi has voted elected Mr Gandhi since he first took his eletoral plunge in 2004. But the much-reduced votes and vote share in the last election in 2014, when the BJP fielded Ms Irani against him, has given the Congress chief reason to worry.
The BJP has alleged that he chose Wayanad to also contest as he was afraid of losing from Amethi.
Smriti Irani said the letter “signifies that he has not given importance to Amethi”.
