'Amethi has embraced BJP': In Congress bastion, Amit Shah, Smriti Irani, Yogi Adityanath raise pitch against Rahul Gandhi

In a bid to impart BJP’s stand on providing an all-round development for Uttar Pradesh, the saffron party fielded three of its top leaders in Amethi, the political bastion of the Gandhi family, on Tuesday. At a  mega rally organised by BJP, the party’s national president Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Union minister Smriti Irani took turns to criticise Congress and praise BJP governance. Here’s all the important things that were said at the rally: [caption id=“attachment_4128327” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  BJP chief Amit Shah, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Union minister Smriti Irani[/caption] Modi, Gandhi, and Amethi Addressing the rally, Shah said that he was in Amethi because he wanted the people to embrace development. “Narendra Modi_ji_, even after not getting the desired results, never abandoned Amethi,” Shah said.

Taking a dig at the Congress vice-president and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi, Shah said, “Three generations of Congress were voted to power in Amethi. And you, Rahul baba, ask us what we did in mere three years?”

“I want to ask Rahul: You have been an MP for so long. Why hasn’t Amethi got a collector’s office or Akashvani FM radio till now?” he asked. Championing the Modi model of development, Shah said, “There are two models of growth in Amethi: Gandhi-Nehru model and the Modi model. Three generations of the Gandhis abandoned Amethi. Modi model means 24x7 electricity for all households.” Shah also drew parallels between Adityanath and Modi. “The jodi of Yogi_ji_ and Modi_ji_ means development for Uttar Pradesh,” Shah said. ‘Uttar Pradesh will be developed by Gujarat’ Lashing out at the Congress vice-president over constantly criticising Modi, Shah said, “By 2022, Uttar Pradesh will be developed by Gujarat.”

He added, “In the three years that we have been in power, Modi government has brought about 106 schemes. Maybe Rahul Gandhi does not even know how to count.”

In a direct attack on former prime minister Manmohan Singh, Shah said, “We at least gave a prime minister to the nation who speaks. Earlier, India had a prime minister whom people were desperate to hear.” The BJP chief also alleged that the Amethi MP was incapable of understanding India because of his Italian roots. “Rahul baba, you are wearing Italian glasses. You cannot see things from the Indian perspective,” he said. ‘Irani is sister of Amethi’ Speaking at the BJP rally, Adityanath alleged that the Congress never thought about Amethi and Uttar Pradesh. “Even if we did not get the desired results for Amethi in 2014, Irani has proven that she is the sister of Amethi,” he said. He added that Congress used to think about Italy, but not about Amethi. “Congress got several opportunities to be a part of Amethi. But you got only one opportunity to see them,” said the Uttar Pradesh chief minister. ‘Congress doesn’t love India’ Adityanath said that the foundation stones that were being laid by BJP for development schemes were a sign of the growth Amethi is witnessing. “Congress doesn’t love India. They cannot bring about development,” he said. The Hindutva leader claimed that there was no development in the area when he had first become the chief minister. “In rural areas, we have provided homes to over 8 lakh people. Programmes to provide toilets to the families which did not have toilets have begun now,” he said. ‘Amethi has embraced me and BJP’ Irani, who had arrived at the Gandhi bastion on Monday evening openly criticised the Congress. “People had earlier told me that they are boycotting the 2014 polls because authorities from their own constituency were not willing to meet them,” she said. Recalling an interaction with a village head, Irani said that upon her assurance to work for development, he responded saying that “he was done trying to trust politicians”.

“Perhaps those people, who roam around the nation ranting about development, get scared when they hear the name of Amethi,” said Irani.

“I am proud of the fact that our leadership did not turn their backs on us,” she added. ‘Congress saw Amethi as vote bank’ Irani said that her address was for “those who have looked at Amethi just as a vote bank”. She said that promises of a rail line in the constituency had been made from Nehru’s time to Rahul’s, “but only Modi did work for development”. “I want to tell Rahul: You go abroad and to Gujarat and talk about development. But tell the nation that the first TV unit is being installed in a hospital only when BJP came to power,” Irani said. Irani also took a dig at Samajwadi Party. “The people had been promised employment. But the cycle had been punctured a lot earlier,” she said.