Rahul charts alternative way for ‘ignored’ Amethi

‘‘Mazaa aa raha hai.’’ That’s how Rahul Gandhi sums up his experience in Amethi on completion of a year in office o...

‘‘Mazaa aa raha hai.’’ That’s how Rahul Gandhi sums up his experience in Amethi on completion of a year in office on Wednesday as an MP. But he refused to rate his performance on a scale of 10 like the PM. ‘‘Mein apne aap ko number nahi deta. You cannot sit down and assess your own performance,’’ Rahul said.

In the last year, Rahul has visited his constituency 11 times and stayed there for 32 days. Inaugurating a Rs 6-crore scheme for construction of 15 link roads in Amethi today, Rahul said, ‘‘Mene yeh accept kar liya hai ki Mulayam sarkar hamari koi madad nahi karegi (I have now accepted that the Mulayam Singh Yadav government would offer us no help). Amethi ki andheki ho rahi hai (Amethi is being ignored).’’

‘‘Using the Centre and my MPLAD funds is the only strategy to ensure development of my constituency. Due to the indifferent attitude of the state government, I am not satisfied with the progress made in the last year in areas of roads, power and education. The present programme (link road scheme) is also under the Prime Minister Gramin Sudhar Yojna,’’ he said.

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Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party MP from Agra Raj Babbar told The Indian Express that Rahul should have been more persuasive with the CM.

‘‘Projects worth crores have been granted to Agra…All this is just because I have pursued these matters with the state government. An MP or and MLA has to present his case well. In fact, given my understanding with Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, I hardly need funds from the Centre for my constituency,’’ he says.

A Central scheme of rural electrification for Amethi and Rae Bareli has been given the go-ahead. Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar met Mulayam on May 9, for land to set up a Petroleum Training School in Amethi.