Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani
Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani on Friday slammed Congress President Rahul Gandhi over “lack of development” in the constituencies represented by him and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Sonia represents Rae Bareli in the Lok Sabha and the Congress president holds the adjacent Amethi seat.
Irani accused the two Congress leaders of failing to develop their own constituencies, claiming that 70 to 80 per cent of houses are still made of mud.
“Desh jaan jayega.. Jo apni constituency mein vikas nahi kar paye, jinki constituency mein aj bhi 70-80 pratishad ghar mitti ke hain, unse vikas ki apeksha unki apni constituency wale nahi karte, desh to duur ki baat hai…”(People will get to know… Those who could not bring development to their own constituencies… where 70-80 per cent houses are still made of mud… people will not expect anything from them) said Irani, who visited Rajiv Gandhi Petroleum Institute as well as Rae Bareli rail coach factory on Thursday.
Continuing her tirade against Rahul, Irani said the Salon Assembly constituency of Rae Bareli district is a proof that “how despite representing the region for years, the Gandhi family failed to stand with the people in time of need”. Salon falls under Rae Bareli district but is part of Amethi Lok Sabha Constituency.
The people in the area have no expectations of development, she told reporters after visiting the Modern Coach Factory here.
She said that Rae Bareli rail coach factory prospered during the NDA regime. “During the UPA regime, rail coaches were brought from Kapoorthala factory and painted in Rae Bareli shed in the name of achievement,” she said.
“Now under the Modi government, 700 coaches are made here. The rail coach factory here has become a symbol of possibilities under the Narendra Modi government,” she said.
Denying the allegations, Congress district president Yogendra Mishra said the NDA government was intentionally delaying projects meant for the constituency just to ensure that the “credit does not go to the Congress”.
Several letters were written to Union ministries but their focus is only to halt projects, he said. Recently Rahul wrote three letters to three Union ministers over pending projects in Amethi.
The Congress President on August 30 wrote letters to Union Human Resource and Development Minister Prakash Javadekar for a central school, Union minister for railways Piyush Goyal for railway projects in Amethi and Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari regarding 10 roads projects in Amethi. Confirming it Dheeraj Srivastava from the office of the Congress president said, “These letters have been sent to remind the government about the projects.”