Ahead of the fourth phase of voting, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday came down heavily on the Gandhis in their (known to be) party bastion Rae Bareli. Addressing a public meeting in the hotly contested seat, Shah posed five questions to the members of the Gandhi family, including senior Congress leader and former MP from the constituency Sonia Gandhi, party's current candidate from the seat Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi.
Shah, addressing a rally here, took a dig at Priyanka Gandhi's reference to Rae Bareli as 'my family' while seeking a vote for the party. He said, "Priyanka Gandhi in her speech said that I am here to seek votes from my family. But, how many times in the past five years has Sonia Gandhi visited Rae Bareli? If she could not come, how many times did Rahul or Priyanka visit their family here?"
In his speech, he further highlighted the Gandhi family's absence even in the wake of a series of serious incidents that have marred the constituency.
Shah said, "The NTPC boiler burst, and many people died but no one from the Gandhi family came here. There was a train accident in Bachhrawan, but none of them came. People died when a boat capsized, and then women were electrocuted. Five girls also died by drowning—where were the Gandhis during these incidents? Dinesh Pratap Singh (BJP candidate) visited all the affected families."
Moreover, continuing the blistering attack on Congress, Shah alleged that the former MP Sonia Gandhi had spent 70% of MP funds on minorities to maintain their 'vote bank'.
He said, "Shehzada is asking for votes here; you all have been voting for them all these years, but did you get something from the MP's fund? But she has spent all the funds. If you didn't get it, where has it gone? It has gone to their 'vote bank,' and you people are not her vote bank. Sonia Gandhi has spent more than 70% of funds on minorities."
During the address, Shah further also reiterated India's stand on PoK. He said, "...I want to ask you, if Pakistan has atom bombs, should we leave PoK? I promise you today, we don't get scared of atom bombs, PoK belongs to India, and no one can take it away from us..."
Moreover, it is pertinent to note that the Rae Bareli constituency is among the most hotly contested of the state's 80 Lok Sabha constituencies. The seat will go to polls on May 20 in the fifth phase of the General Elections. While Congress for the first time fielded Rahul Gandhi (incumbent MP from Wayanad) from Rae Bareli, BJP has given the responsibility on Dinesh Pratap Singh's shoulder to chart the party's victory in the Gandhi family bastion.
