Bharatiya Janata Party launched a scathing attack on Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of betraying the people of his Lok Sabha constituency Amethi.

Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani stormed her political bete noire’s bastion accompanied by Union Minister of State Vijay Sanpla, Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya,

UP Energy Minister Shrikant Sharma and other leaders on Monday. She laid foundation stones of development projects worth Rs 77 crore and distributed tricycles among the specially-abled persons.

Irani had lost to Rahul Gandhi in Amethi during the 2014 Lok Sabha poll despite a Modi wave sweeping the country.

Questioning the political acumen of the Congress chief, Irani said, “Rahul Gandhi should at least tell us the names of five villages of his  constituency and then think of a debate with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

While campaigning in Chhattisgarh on Sunday, the Congress president had dared the Prime Minister for a 15-minute debate on the controversy over Rafale deal with France and the turmoil in the CBI. 

Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya also attacked the Congress chief saying, “Rahul Gandhi, being a dynast, can become the president of a party but he can never become the Prime Minister of the country.”

Maurya said that despite being represented by top Congress honchos for three decades, including a Prime Minister, as many as 13 villages of Amethi were not linked by all-weather roads but the BJP government had allocated Rs 35 crore for roads in Amethi Lok Sabha constituency.

Energy Minister Shrikant Sharma said that the people of Amethi had elected a ‘factory of lies’ in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. “Their MP (Rahul Gandhi) never cared for the people of his constituency despite his father and him being regularly elected from Amethi. On the other hand, the Yogi Adityanath government has launched projects worth Rs 448 crore in Amethi and most of them are expected to be completed by December,” he said.

“Those unable to handle their own Lok Sabha constituencies are nursing lofty dreams even when they cannot handle states like Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. If you want rapid development in the area, then liberate Rae Bareli and Amethi from the Gandhi family,” Sharma said.

Irani arrived in Lucknow on Monday morning and left for Gauriganj in Amethi by a helicopter. During the three-hour stay in Amethi, Irani distributed equipment to 1,492 specially-abled persons and later laid the foundation stones of development schemes worth Rs 77 crore, including four industrial training institutes and a scheme for empowerment and employment of women.