Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday alleged Congress president Rahul Gandhi had "no time" for his parliamentary constituency Amethi but Union minister Smriti Irani, if elected from the seat, will ensure "all-round" development of the area.
Irani has pitted herself against the Congress chief who has won thrice from the seat.
She filed her nomination on Thursday after a roadshow, taking the same route Gandhi had taken on Wednesday when he submitted his papers to election officials.
Adityanath accompanied Irani during the show of strength in Amethi, a Gandhi family pocket borough.
"Rahul Gandhi does not have time for Amethi. I had sought proposals for development from him a number of times, but he did not give. Whenever Smriti Irani used to meet me, she talked about the development of Amethi and facilities being given to its people," the chief minister said.
"I am confident that if 'behen' (sister) Smriti Irani is elected as Lok Sabha MP from here, there will be all-round development of Amethi," he added.
Irani, the Union textiles minister, has nursed the constituency even though she was defeated by Gandhi in 2014 polls.
"Despite losing election from here, Smriti Irani is making efforts for development of Amethi, but the same (intent) is not seen in the (current) MP," Adityanath said.
"Hence, I have come here to tell that Smriti's win will strengthen Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he added.
Later Adityanath visited Aligarh and addressed two rallies there.
He said the Aligarh Muslim University is "not a minority institution" and is funded by the Centre. "Hence, backward classes and Dalits should be given reservation."
He also brought up the 2018 controversy over Mohammad Ali Jinnah's picture that hung at the university, saying the Muslim League leader was responsible for the partition of India.
"A befitting reply should be given to the 'tukde-tukde' gang," he said.
The BJP began using the phrase "tukde tukde gang" to refer to students accused of raising anti-India slogans in Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University in 2016 and has generalised the phrase to attack those it accuses of sympathising with Maoists and separatists.
"Kalyan Singh sacrificed for the sake of Ram Mandir," he said, apparently referring to fall of the state's BJP government following the demolition of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya in 1992.
Adityanath also exuded confidence that the BJP will register win on all the eight Lok Sabha seats in western UP which went to polls on Thursday.
Hitting out at the Congress, Adityanath said, "During Congress government, they use to say that Muslims have the first right on the resources of our country, but in BJP government, every citizen has equal right. We have worked on the theme of 'Sabka Sath, Sabka Vikas'."
The UP chief minister also said, "Nowadays, there is a buzz about Modi's name in the country and people don't have any other choice except Modi.
"What was impossible during the tenure of SP, Congress and BSP, is now possible in Modi's era because 'Modi hai to mumkin hai' (with Modi, it's possible).
Disclaimer: No Business Standard Journalist was involved in creation of this content
