Raebareli fight heats up: Sonia Gandhi spent more than 70% of MP funds for minorities, claims Amit Shah

Home Minister Amit Shah on Sunday launched a scathing attack on former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, saying she spent more than 70 per cent of her MP funds on minorities. "You gave the Gandhi family a chance for years, but no development work has been done. They (Congress) do not believe in development. They do not even come to you in your happiness and sorrows," Shah said at an election rally in Raebareli. 

Sonia Gandhi represented this seat for two decades. This time, her son Rahul Gandhi is fighting Lok Sabha elections from this Gandhi bastion where the BJP has fielded Dinesh Pratap Singh. The Home Minister asked people to vote for BJP's Dinesh Pratap Singh and said, "We will connect Raebareli with Modiji's development journey." 

"The 'shahzada' (prince) has come here to seek votes. You have been voting for many years. Have you received anything from the MP fund? If you have not received it, then where did it go? It went to their vote bank. Sonia Gandhi has spent more than 70 per cent of the MP funds on minorities," Shah claimed. 

The former BJP chief, who is leading the BJP's campaign along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party President JP Nadda, said this the Gandhi family is an expert in lying. He cited some of the promises made by Congress in Telangana which he said still remained unfulfilled. "They (Congress) are now promising Rs 1 lakh for every woman. In the Telangana elections, they had said that they would give Rs 15,000 to every woman. The women of the state elected them...forget about Rs 15,000, they did not even give Rs 1,500." 

"Many people here told me that this is a family seat. It is true. The people of Raebareli have made the Gandhi and Nehru families win for years. But after getting elected from here, how many times did Sonia Ji and her family come to Raebareli? Okay, Sonia ji's health is not good, but has Rahul baba or sister Priyanka come?" 

After the rally, Shah visited the residence of Samajwadi Party MLA from Unchahar Manoj Pandey, who on February 27 resigned from the post of the party's chief whip and cross-voted in favour of the BJP candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls. In Pratapgarh, Shah referred to Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar's comments on Pakistan and said, "Rahul baba, if you want to be scared of the atom bomb, then be scared, we are not scared. Pakistan-occupied Kashmir belongs to India and we will take it." 

Aiyar recently said that India should give respect to Pakistan as it is a sovereign nation and engage with it as it also possesses the atomic bomb. He indicated that if a "mad person" comes to power there and uses the atomic bomb, it will not be good and will have its effect here too. 

Raebareli will vote in the fifth phase on May 20.