AFTER UNION HRD Minister Smriti Irani, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar is also set to make inroads in the Gandhi bastion of Amethi. He has adopted Baraulia village in the district under the Saansad Adarsh Gram Yojna (SAGY).
While Parrikar is a Rajya Sabha member from UP, Amethi is the Lok Sabha constituency of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.
Speaking to The Indian Express, Parrikar said: “I am an MP from UP and had worked in Amethi during the last Lok Sabha elections. I have seen that despite being a VIP constituency, Amethi still has backward villages. But I can adopt more villages in UP as well.”
[related-post]
Amethi Chief Development Officer Om Prakash confirmed that Parrikar has adopted Barauliya, which falls in the Gauriganj Assembly segment.
BJP district vice-president in Amethi, Govind Singh Chauhan, said the local party unit had recommended two villages — Baraulia and Hariharpur — to Parrikar in December last year so that he could select one among them.
“The name of Barauliya was recommended because around 65 families had lost their properties in a fire in June last year… Smriti Irani had sent relief materials to the affected families and also visited the village in her first tour to Amethi after the Lok Sabha elections,” he added.
During the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Parrikar had addressed public meetings in support of BJP candidate from Amethi, Smriti Irani, at Amrauta and Hariharpur villages of Amethi. Local BJP leaders said Parrikar’s decision to adopt a village in Amethi will strengthen the party in the Congress stronghold.
Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi has adopted Jagdishpur village in Salon area even though he had criticised and questioned the scheme’s relevance. SAGY, an ambitious scheme of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is aimed at integrating development of the adopted villages through effective implementation of projects and schemes.