Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday sought to dispel the notion that the attack on Bharatiya Janata Party’s prime ministerial candidate and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over his marital status was infringement on his personal domain.
“The Congress is not making any personal attack on Modi but putting up a fact before the world,” he said after filing the nomination as from Amethi parliamentary constituency on Saturday afternoon. Rahul filed his nominations in four sets that had legislator Radheshyam Dhobi, Mohammad Naim, Rajnarain Yadav and Prem Narain Tiwari as proposers.
Talking to reporters soon after filing his papers at Gauriganj, the district headquarters of Amethi, Rahul said it could not be termed as a personal attack on Modi.
“The facts of Modi’s affidavit are what is being said and there is nothing like personal attack,” he added. It may be recalled that in the affidavit filed along with his nominations for Vadodara lok Sabha seat, Modi has mentioned the name of his wife as Jasodaben while in the last four Assembly elections he had left this column blank.
Reminding of his old connection with the people of Amethi, the Congress vice-president said he maintained family ties with Amethi and saw no problem in the election.
When asked about the fate of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance at the Centre in the parliamentary election, Rahul said even in the pre-poll surveys in 2004 and 2009, the UPA was shown to be lagging behind but the results were just the opposite. “It will happen this time as well and the UPA will form the government,” he added.
listing his three major achievements as the MP from Amethi, Rahul said that empowerment of women through self- help groups (SHGs), the food park and the rail link of Amethi were the works which had given him immense satisfaction.
Earlier, Rahul and the Gandhi family members — Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Vadra and Robert Vadra — accompanying him were given a rousing welcome all along the 40-km stretch from Amahart airport in Sultanpur to Gauriganj. Family loyalist Capt Satish Sharma and Uttar Pradesh Congress president Nirmal Khatri were also present on the occasion.
Amita Modi along with her husband Sanjay Singh also received the Gandhis at the airport in Sultanpur and accompanied them in the road show. Before the nomination, Sonia and Rahul Gandhi paid a visit to a local resident, Kamruddin in Panha village, and asked about his family’s well being. In an informal chat in Dhammaur area, Priyanka was non-committal about the candidature of BJP’s Smriti Irani against Rahul.
On persisting queries, she said: “Everyone who comes to Amethi is welcome. There is an arrangement in democracy for everyone to contest election.” She, however, did not give a direct reply when asked whether she expected Rahul’s victory margin to be bigger this time. “We will come to know it later,” was all she said.
Meanwhile, in the affidavit filed with his nomination papers, Rahul Gandhi, the sitting MP from Amethi, has declared financial assets worth Rs 9.40 crore — a rise of around four times in last five years in comparison to 2009 declaration. Rahul claimed to have movable assets worth Rs 8.07 crore and immovable assets worth Rs 1.33 crore. Rahul’s declared annual income in 2012-13 was more than Rs 92 lakh but he still does not have a vehicle or a residential house in his name. In the 2009 election, Rahul had claimed his assets to be worth Rs 2.25 crore.
As per the affidavit, Rahul has Rs 35,000 cash in hand, it was Rs 7,000 in 2009. He also has Rs 9,50,575 in different bank accounts, 1,900 shares of Young Indian Company worth Rs 1.90 lakh, HDFC mutual funds worth Rs 81,28,155 and Rs 20,70,146 in Post Office savings and PPF accounts and insurance policies.
The Congress vice-president has jewellery weighing 333.300 grams worth Rs 2,87,915 besides other movable property worth Rs 1,81,803.
Rahul and his sister Priyanka Vadra jointly hold 4.692 acres of agriculture land in the name of Indira Gandhi farm house at Sultanpur Mehrauli in New Delhi worth Rs 1,32,48,284. In 2009, Rahul had disclosed two commercial shops as his assets but this time they were not mentioned. He also does not have any commercial or residential house or flats in his name.
The Congress vice-president has a loan of Rs 18 lakh, out of which he has taken Rs 9 lakh from his mother Sonia Gandhi. He has no government, income tax or other dues. Amethi will go to polls on May 7. Rahul is contesting for the third consecutive time to retain the seat. Other prominent candidates from the Amethi seat are TV star Smriti Irani of the BJP and poet Kumar Viswas of the Aam Aadmi Party.