"BJP conspiring to sow enmity with Rae Bareli, Amethi...": Mallikarjun Kharge

Amethi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], February 20 (ANI): Congress National President Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of 'conspiring' to 'sow enmity' with the people of Rae Bareli and Amethi by halting projects worth crores and neglecting the development of the two key cities, once considered the bastion of the grand old party.

Kharge was addressing a public gathering in Uttar Pradesh's Amethi during the party's 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra'. 

"During the Congress's tenure, projects worth crores in Amethi were approved but most of them remained pending. I want to ask them why the projects are still incomplete. They do not want to work for Amethi and Rae Bareli. They have finished off projects that were for Amethi and Rae Bareli," he said. 

"The BJP is conspiring to sow enmity with the people of Rae Bareli and Amethi," he added. 

He also criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi's slogan of 'Abki baar, 400 paar,' predicting that the BJP would not surpass 100 seats in the upcoming elections.

"Though the BJP claims that it will gain over 400 seats, it won't be able to cross 100 seats. Abki baar, Satta se bahar (this time, they will be ousted from power)", Kharge said. 

Mallikarjun Kharge launched an attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi stating, "Modiji (PM Narendra Modi) would come here and accuse the Congress party of halting projects. Tell me what are you doing now. The public will give a befitting reply to this."

Former party chief Sonia Gandhi, the current Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli, filed her nomination for the Rajya Sabha from Rajasthan. Sonia Gandhi won the 2019 Lok Sabha election from Rae Bareli, defeating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh by over 1,65,000 votes.

Though Amethi was represented by Rahul Gandhi between 2004 and 2019, he lost the seat to the BJP’s Smriti Irani in 2019, by roughly 55,000 votes.

While addressing the rally in UP's Amethi, Kharge said,"...This is the land where Rajeev Gandhi ji, Sonia Gandhi ji and Rahul Gandhi ji worked hard. You (people of Amethi) have a deep relation with them (Gandhi family)."

The Congress is yet to announce its candidate for the Rae Bareli constituency. 

On SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "Everything will be alright. He has agreed and our people have agreed too. There is no problem."

Earlier today, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi 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. (ANI)