Amethi used to be a Congress stronghold in Uttar Pradesh, where Rahul Gandhi lost to Smriti Irani by a margin of around 55,000 votes in the 2019 elections…reports Asian Lite News
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday afternoon resumed his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi.
The senior Congress leader is on a Manipur-Mumbai Yatra covering 15 states ahead of the Lok Sabha election.
The Lok Sabha polls are expected to be held in April-May this year.
Amethi used to be a Congress stronghold in Uttar Pradesh, where Rahul Gandhi lost to Smriti Irani by a margin of around 55,000 votes in the 2019 elections.
On the other hand, Union Minister and BJP MP from Amethi, Smriti Irani held a Jan Samwad in Amethi on Monday as part of a four-day visit to her parliamentary constituency.
The Congress is still undecided on whether Rahul Gandhi will attempt to regain the Congress stronghold especially since Sonia Gandhi has also left Rae Bareili for the Rajya Sabha.
“CEC will decide on who will contest from Amethi. Rahul Gandhi has been an MP from Amethi thrice. His father Rajiv Gandhi also used to contest from Amethi. It is a very important constituency for the Congress party…” said Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.
Sonia was elected as an MP from Raibareli for the first time in 2004. Since then, the Congress leader has been representing the Congress stronghold in the Lower House.
The current chairperson of the Congress Parliamentary Party served as the party’s national president for almost 22 years, between 1998 and 2022, and is a five-time Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli.
The Congress’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, after the party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, aims to cover 6,700 km through 15 states, with Lok Sabha polls around the corner.
Rijiju counters Rahul’s OBC barb
Union Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday strongly countered Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s allegations of ‘discrimination’ against the Other Backward Class (OBC) community in the country’s top bureaucratic set-up.
“Is he naive or a fool?,” Rijiju, lashing out at the Congress leader, took to his X handle and explained in detail the ‘progression process’ of bureaucrats.
Rahul Gandhi, during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in UP’s Amethi on Monday, told newsmen, ”The number of Dalits, Adivasis and other backward people remains very low in courts, same is the case in Bureaucracy.”
Taking strong exception to Rahul’s statement that only 3 out of 90 secretaries in Government of India belong to OBC community, Rijiju explained that the current batch of secretaries are from either 1992 or previous batches, when OBC reservation was not even in effect.
“Today Rahul Gandhi again said there are only 3 OBC secretaries to Govt of India and negligible OBC judges. Is he naive or a fool? A fresh IAS officer can’t just become secretary and a fresh lawyer can’t become a judge of High Court or SC directly,” Rijiju said.
Minister of Earth Sciences further said that at that time, OBC was not even classified under reserved category, only SC and ST community got quotas in jobs. OBC classification into All India Service (AIS) came only post 1995 following the court verdict.
Smriti Irani holds key meet in Amethi
Even as former Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra enters the erstwhil bastion of Amethi a political face off was seen.
Union Minister and BJP MP from Amethi, Smriti Irani held a Jan Samwad in Amethi on Monday as part of a four-day visit to her parliamentary constituency.
Amethi used to be a Congress stronghold in Uttar Pradesh, where Rahul Gandhi lost to Smriti Irani by a margin of around 55,000 votes in the 2019 elections.
The Congress is still undecided on wether Rahul Gandhi will make an attempt at regaining the Congress stronghold specially since Sonia Gandhi has also left Rae Bareili for the Rajya Sabha.
“CEC will decide on who will contest from Amethi. Rahul Gandhi has been an MP from Amethi thrice. His father Rajiv Gandhi also used to contest from Amethi. It is a very important constituency for the Congress party…” said Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.
Ahead of Rahul Gandhi’s scheduled visit to Pratapgarh, Congress MP Imran Pratapgarhi said, “Amethi is the home of Rahul Gandhi. He has been a member of parliament from here. He is the son of Amethi. Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra is going to have a huge impact on Uttar Pradesh and the country…”
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday resumed the Yatra from Pratapgarh, Uttar Pradesh attacking the BJP for not doing enough for the backward classes.
“Tell me how many Dalits, Adivasis, and backward people are there in high courts? You don’t have courage, you all are sleeping. There are 650 high court judges. You have 73% of the population…Tell me how many people do you have among the bureaucrats?…” said Rahul Gandhi at Pratapgarh.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will address a public rally in Babuganj on Monday.
“Today is the 37th day of Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will address a public rally in Babuganj. We will stay in Amethi tonight and reach Raebareli tomorrow morning. We will stay in Lucknow tomorrow and in Kanpur the day after. Then, we will take 2 days’ rest on 22nd and 23rd February…” said Congress leader, Jairam Ramesh.
The Congress’s ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’, succeeded by the party’s ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, aims to cover 6,700 km through 15 states, with Lok Sabha polls around the corner. (ANI)
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