Amethi (UP), May 20 (PTI) The political atmosphere in Amethi heated up on Wednesday ahead of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s visit to the district, with posters targeting the local MP Kishori Lal Sharma surfacing across the constituency.
The posters, put up at several locations including the railway station, major intersections, bus stand, collectorate premises and outside Sanjay Gandhi Hospital in Munshiganj, questioned the performance of the Congress MP and compared his tenure with that of former Union minister and ex-MP Smriti Irani.
Gandhi was Amethi MP from 2004 to 2019 before BJP’s Irani defeated him. He then switched to Raebareli seat winning the 2024 polls, while Gandhi family loyalist Sharma made a surprise electoral entry in 2024 to beat Irani in Amethi.
On Wednesday morning, one of the prominently displayed posters read, “Do saal Kishori, tumne laal kya kiya?” (Kishori, what have you done in two years?).
The posters alleged that since becoming MP, Sharma had only provided one school bus and one ambulance to the public. It was claimed that the school bus was given to a school linked to a Congress leader, while the ambulance was deployed at a hospital run by a trust associated with him.
Other posters compared Sharma’s two-year tenure with the five-year tenure of Smriti Irani and claimed that she had undertaken several development works related to roads, healthcare, education and employment in Amethi.
It could not be independently verified who had put up the posters.
Reacting to the development, the Congress described the posters as a result of the BJP’s “frustration and desperation.” Congress leader and Railway Consumers Advisory Committee member Anupam Pandey said the BJP was “restless” in Amethi much like “a fish out of water.” On the other hand, BJP district president Sudhanshu Shukla said the posters reflected the “voice and sentiments” of the people of Amethi.
He claimed that the development work carried out by Irani could not be achieved by the Congress in 70 years.
Shukla listed projects such as a medical college, Krishi Vigyan Kendra, trauma centre, Kendriya Vidyalaya, Sainik School, fertiliser rake centre, ring road, bypass construction and road connectivity projects among the works undertaken during Irani’s tenure.
He alleged that the Congress had always disrespected the sentiments of the people of Amethi and ruled only by taking votes without focusing on development.
Gandhi, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, began his two-day visit to Raebareli and Amethi on Tuesday. PTI COR KIS VN VN
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