Govt mounts counter attack on Rahul over Amethi food park

Rahul Gandhi's attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over cancellation of a mega food park project in his constituency has provoked a counter assault from the Centre, with Union Minister Smriti Irani accusing the Congress vice president of caring more for a business house than the farmers of Amethi.
The Union HRD Minister, who lost to Gandhi in the Lok Sabha elections from Amethi, chose the constituency to mount a counter offensive against the Congress leader, who has been aggressively attacking the "suit-boot ki sarkar" over issues ranging from the land bill to net neutrality since his return from leave.

"When Rahul Gandhi spoke for the first time in Amethi, he was talking for a business house. He did not speak for the farmers of Amethi.
"If you look at the documents of district officials, you will understand that from 2010 to 2014, the land was not provided by Congress. Whatever help had to be given for gas was not given for long," Irani told reporters amid the raging row over cancellation of the mega food park project.
Rahul Gandhi had last week slammed the Centre over the food park issue and accused Modi of pursuing "politics of revenge".
Irani, on a visit to Amethi to meet farmers hit by unseasonal rains and hailstorm, said that Rahul has been "missing" from his constituency and that the dreams shown by three generations of Congress can only be fulfilled by the Narendra Modi government.

With Rahul Gandhi showing rare aggression over the past few weeks in targeting the Modi government within and outside Parliament, Irani's Amethi visit is being seen as an attempt by the ruling dispensation to make things difficult for the Congress leader in his own bastion.
"The MP of Amethi has been missing from here. I am glad, at least, to follow my footsteps, the people of Amethi will get to see him," she said, when asked if she had timed her visit to Amethi ahead of the one planned by Rahul.