Rahul Gandhi gives Narendra Modi government '0 out of 10'; slams it over food park

LUCKNOW/AMETHI: People of Amethi long used to VIP visits of the Gandhis got a surprise on Monday when their visiting MP Rahul Gandhi made himself easily accessible and mingled freely with villagers and local leaders.

Gandhi also seemed more confident and politically aggressive than before as he started his three-day tour of his constituency with a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, giving it zero out of 10 on performance for the first year and accusing it of hurting the interest of the people of Amethi on the food park issue.

Addressing a street corner meeting, the Congress vice-president also took a jibe at Modi for his frequent foreign visits. “The prime minister is visiting foreign countries. But he has no time to visit the house of any farmer or labourer. Did he visit any farmer in his house? Name one farmer whom he has visited and taken stock of his problems,” he said.

“The PM had promised jobs during his election campaign. Has any of you got jobs? Please raise hands if you have got jobs so that everybody knows,” he said.

Gandhi addressed over half-adozen meetings, in which he repeatedly raised the issue of food park and how the project was scrapped out of political vendetta. He marched on foot for more than 2 km from Jagdishpur to the food park site, mingling with people along the way. Gandhi said, “This food park was not for me but for farmers and labourers. The farmers of not just Amethi but at least 10 adjoining districts would have been able to sell their produce directly to the food park and would have been saved of going to the mandis.”