Congress chief Rahul Gandhi to meet gram pradhans, party workers during two-day Amethi visit

This is the first time Rahul Gandhi is visiting Amethi after his party won the assembly elections in three states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in December last year.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi will visit his constituency Amethi in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday for the first time since BSP and SP announced their alliance in the crucial state for the upcoming Lok Sabha election without the grand old party.

Rahul Gandhi speaks at an event in Singapore March 8, 2018. REUTERS/Thomas White/Files (REUTERS)

This is also the first time Rahul Gandhi is visiting Amethi after his party won the assembly elections in three states of Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in December last year.

“I am coming to Amethi. We will have talks and deliberations in the courtyard of our house. I will keep sharing photographs of the story of happiness,” Gandhi posted on Facebook before heading to Amethi. (Follow live updates here)

Bahujan Samaj Party’s Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav have said their candidates would not contest the Congress’ only two seats in the northern state - Amethi and Raebareli, the constituency of his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

The Congress chief halted briefly in state capital Lucknow, where he was welcomed by Uttar Pradesh unit chief Raj Babbar, and interacted with party workers before he set out for his two-day visit to Amethi.

Rahul Gandhi will pay a floral tribute at martyrs’ memorial near Nahar Kothi in Amethi, attend a meeting of gram pradhans or village heads in Tiloi and visit Paraiya Namaksar village on Wednesday. Later, he will attend the oath-taking ceremony of Lawyers’ Association at the Gauriganj collectorate, visit the residence of a former block pramukh at Dharauli village in Musafirkhana area.

He will also attend programmes organised in Haliyapur village, Newada village and meet the family members of senior Congress leader Shiv Pratap Singh.

On Thursday, Gandhi will meet people at the Bhuaemau guest house, after which he will attend programmes in various villages. He will also visit the residence of former block pramukh SP Singh located at Dih village. He will then return to New Delhi on Thursday evening.

Rival parties have often accused Rahul Gandhi of neglecting his constituency and not visiting it often enough. His earlier programme to visit Amethi on January 4 was cancelled because of Parliament’s Winter Session.

Union minister Smriti Irani, a frequent visitor to Amethi, was there during that time and her visit would have clashed with that of the Congress president’s. She lost Amethi to Rahul Gandhi in the last general election.

United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson and member of Parliament from Rae Bareli Sonia Gandhi’s two-day visit to her constituency on January 23 and 24 was cancelled due to unavoidable reasons, its district Congress committee president VK Shukla said on Tuesday.