Lucknow: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence on the questions he had asked in the Rafael deal was “intriguing”.
He said that the Prime Minister gives speeches, but does not give answers.Mr Gandhi, while addressing a meeting in Amethi, reiterated his Rafael charges. He also took a jibe at Mr Modi’s “chowkidar” statement and said, “Chowkidar so gaya.” He questioned why Mr Anil Ambani’s 10-day old company was given the contract to make the airrafts.
He said that the Prime Minister had failed to give jobs to two crore youths every day. Mr Gandhi promised that as soon as the Congress returned to power, he would ensure employment opportunities for the youth and development of the constituency.
For Mr Gandhi, it was a welcome with a difference when he reached his parliamentary constituency Amethi on Monday on a two-day visit.
Mr Gandhi was given a rousing reception on his arrival. He garlanded a portrait of Lord Shiva and hundreds of ‘kanwariyas’ welcomed him by showering petals and shouting “Bam Bam Bhole” and “Har Har Mahadev” — an obvious result of his recent pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarover.
Earlier, Mr Gandhi was also presented an image of Lord Shiv and his forehead was smeared with sandalwood paste.
A “bhandara” (community feast) which is organised after one completes a pilgrimage, was also held in Musafirkhana on Monday.
This was Mr Gandhi’s first visit to Amethi after the Kailash Mansarovar trip and hundreds of hoarding, hailing the Congress president as a “Shiv Bhakt” had been put up across the constituency.
“We are all Hindus and Shiv- bhakts but we do not flaunt our religious leanings like the BJP does and neither do we use it for political gains. It is a tradition to welcome people after a pilgrimage and that is what Amethi is doing. The Congress president is religious and respects people from all sections of the society. He is the most popular leader and his affection for his constituency is known to everyone,” said Congress MLC Deepak Singh.
Mr Gandhi arrived in Lucknow on Monday morning where he was received by UPCC president Raj Babbar and other senior leaders. He then drove to Amethi where he met members of the Rajiv Gandhi Gram project.
He held a meeting with gram pradhans and social media volunteers. On Tuesday, the Congress president will hold meeting with district vigilance monitoring committee to review development work done in Amethi. He will later head to villages in his constituency to interact with people before returning to Delhi.
