As the BJP readies to take the battle into the Gandhi family’s bastion in Amethi on Monday with its prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and top leaders lK Advani, Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley scheduled to give a final push to its candidate Smriti Irani’s campaign, Congress vice-president and sitting MP Rahul Gandhi and her sister Priyanka put up a joint show in the constituency on Sunday.
Rahul sought to ramp up defences in his pocket borough by stepping up his attacks on Modi’s “intentions” on developmental issues while the BJP kept no secret of its intention that it would make it very hard for the Gandhi scion secure “an easy win”in thus far “invincible constituency.”Modi would address a rally on May 5, the day election campaigning ends for the eighth of the nine-phased lok Sabha polls.With his sister Priyanka in tow, Rahul stepped up his attacks on the BJP alleging that if voted to power the party planned to abolish welfare laws such as food security and employment guarantee introduced by the UPA Government.
“I have got information that the intention of BJP and Modi is not clean. They intend to abolish legislations like food security, employment guarantee etc,” he alleged while addressing an election rally at Amethi.Gandhi alleged that farmers, who had been deprived of their land in Gujarat, were not being considered as native residents and were being forced to leave the State.
In a counter-attack, senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said that the relationship of Rahul Gandhi with Amethi is “nominal” and it remains one of the most backward constituencies in the country.“Despite having been a family stronghold for decades, the relationship of Rahul Gandhi with Amethi is nominal and it remains one of the most backward constituencies,” Jaitley said in his blog.
Jaitley said that his party is determined to put up a fight in Amethi. “The tragedy of Amethi is that the voters were never presented with an alternative option. The BJP is determined to put up a fight for Amethi,” he said and cited Irani as “ a formidable candidate”.The BJP national spokesperson also hit out at Rahul saying till now there has not been supply of electricity to only 1,350 Amethi villages and for the past few months, kerosene is also not available, he said.