Three days after Rahul’s visit, Shah to reach Amethi today

AMETHI: Three days after Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s visit, the Amethi constituency is gearing up for another high-profile event as BJP chief Amit Shah and Union minister Smriti Irani will unveil a slew of projects in this Congress bastion on Monday. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will also be present, officials said. Irani arrived here this afternoon while the BJP chief will arrive tomorrow, they said.

Schemes and projects are likely to be announced during Shah and Irani’s visit, besides, beneficiaries of various schemes will be handed over certificates, the officials said. Among other key events, Information and Broadcasting minister Irani will attend the launch of a FM station at Gauriganj and an initiative to save Gomti river near Pipri village.

She will also attend the inauguration of a tuberculosis unit at the district hospital and a primary health centre at Odari Tiloi.

Amethi has traditionally been a Congress bastion but witnessed a high-pitched electoral battle between Rahul Gandhi and Irani in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Though she lost, Irani managed to reduce the Congress leader’s victory margin from around 3.70 lakh votes in 2009 to 1.07 lakh in 2014.

In the 2017 UP Assembly elections, the BJP won six of the 10 Assembly seats falling under the Amethi and Rae Bareli parliamentary constituencies. Four of these were in Amethi. Party sources said the visit of the senior BJP leaders was aimed at sending a clear message that the current dispensation believed in allround development and was not meting out “step-motherly treatment” to any area.