File photo of Rahul Gandhi
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi arrived in his parliamentary constituency, Amethi, today to meet party workers and to review the progress of centrally-sponsored welfare schemes. He is accompanied on the two-day visit by his sister Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra.
This is Mr Gandhi's first visit to Amethi after being named as the Congress party's campaign spearhead in the coming general election, and after being challenged by Aam Aadmi Party leader Kumar Vishwas to retain his Lok Sabha seat. Mr Vishwas has been camping in Amethi for the past fortnight, trying to muster support for his bid.
Unfazed by the AAP leader's efforts to unseat him, the Congress vice-president is expected to undertake surprise visits to a cluster of villages to assess the impact of welfare schemes such as the MGNREGS and National Rural Health Mission.
"He will be on a two-day visit starting January 22 during which he will meet party workers and make surprise inspection of some villages to review progress of central schemes," Mr Gandhi's representative Chandrakant Dubey told reporters in Amethi yesterday.
The contest in Amethi has become interesting because of the entry into the electoral fray of Mr Vishwas, a close confidant of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal.The poet-turned-politician, in his public meetings, has been urging the Amethi voters to dump dynastic politics. He has also been alleging that the constituency has remained backward, despite being represented in the Lok Sabha by Mr Gandhi for a decade now.