Kanpur: Launching a scathing attack against Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Union textile minister Smriti Irani said this time the voters would oust him from Amethi from where he is in poll fray. “Bhag Rahul bhag, Janata aati hai’ (Run Rahul run, here come the people). After Amethi, now Kanpur is also saying ‘Run Rahul run’. He will not be able to win from Amethi,” she said while addessing a rally at Kali Mathiya crossing in Shastri Nagar area of the city on Sunday evening.Smriti, who is locked in a poll battle with Rahul from Amethi parliamentary constituency, said that it was shameful that Congress had raised questions on the valour of the Armed forces.“Congress has been raising questions on the military action India took against Pakistan (after Pulwama terror attack). It is the same party whose leader goes to Pakistan and hugs (referring to Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu) Pakistani authorities and asks them to unseat Modi. It is the same party whose leader calls the Army chief a ‘goon’. Such traitors should be taught a lesson of their lifetime by the voters”, she said.Attacking senior Congress leader Sam Pitroda for questioning military action against Pakistan and for having said that Mumbai terror attack and Pulwama attack were incidents that keep on taking place, she said, “It is a shame. It is the valour of PM Narendra Modi who gave a befitting reply to the enemy. Also, it was because of Modi that the entire world stood with us, but the Congress leaders keep on asking for proof of the strike by our armed forces”.After 26/11 attack, Congress government did not counter attack, and now they were raising questions on Modi government, she added. Smriti, who was addressing BJP’s first election rally after the announcement of poll schedule, claimed that Modi government had built nine crore toilets so that women did not defecate in open, Congress had never thought of this problem faced by women, and therefore, did nothing for them in the past 70 years, she alleged.“The Congress leaders lived in well-lit homes whereas 2.5 crore people witnessed power supply for the first time in their lives after Modi government came to power. They kept you in the dark,” she said amid cheers from the crowd.“It is the Modi government which rolled out special relief for farmers. About 12 crore farmers will get direct transfer benefit of Rs 6,000 every year. This amount will be transferred directly into their bank accounts. Why did the Congress during its rule not start any such scheme of direct benefit transfer into farmers’ account,” she asked.She narrated how an old man who met her with his grandson in Amethi during 2014 Lok Sabha elections told her that that the Congress, during its 70 years rule, could not start a direct train between Unchahar to Amethi, but Modi and Yogi got the work done after they came to power. She appealed to the people to take a vow that they would ensure victory for Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again. “People should vote for BJP to ensure that the nation continues to remain on the track of development”, she said.

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