Smriti Irani highlights initiatives in Rae Bareli, DISHA thanks PM Modi for COVID vaccines

Union minister and Amethi MP Smriti Irani chaired her debut meeting of the District Development and Monitoring Coordination Committee (DISHA). Having arrived in Rae Bareli to chair the committee’s first meeting in nearly three years, Smriti Irani announced the passing of a resolution hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi and thanking him for a variety of reasons.

The meeting was the first after Congress leader Sonia Gandhi was replaced as the head of the government panel in July. Following the meeting, minister Irani said that the DISHA Rae Bareli passed a resolution thanking PM Modi. She mentioned actions taken in terms of COVID vaccination, providing free ration and piped water among others from the PM.  

"DISHA Rae Bareli passed a resolution thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi for providing COVID vaccine to 21 lakh+ people, ₹ 268 crore for the construction-implementation of AIIMS, Free ration to 5.57 lakh families, ₹ drinking water in 400 villages from 1600 crores, Construction of 5 lakh toilets and ESIC dispensaries,” Smriti Irani tweeted on Saturday. The meeting also came nearly a month after Irani’s “Rae Bareli has two MPs” barb at Congress chief Sonia Gandhi.

Rebel Congress MLA Aditi Singh joins BJP

Since its win in Amethi in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP has been eyeing Rae Bareli, which is a Congress stronghold. Earlier in the week, rebel Congress lawmaker Aditi Singh from Rae Bareli (Sadar) assembly segment switched sides and joined the BJP. Making the switch, she said that she accepts the policies of PM Modi and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Aditi Singh had criticised the top Congress leadership many times. Most recently, the Rae Bareli MLA had criticised Congress general secretary in charge of UP — Priyanka Gandhi Vadra — over her reaction to the central government's decision to repeal the three farm laws. 

Congress' attempt to retain bastion Rae Bareli in 2022 polls 

The Congress party have been in preparation to make a strong fight at Rae Bareli in the upcoming 2022 elections. Since Indira Gandhi's rule, Rae Bareli has been the Gandhi family's bastion. It has five assembly seats, two each won by the Congress and the BJP, and one by the Samajwadi Party. In the 2017 UP assembly elections, Congress was reduced to seven seats overall. The Congress won the Harchandpur and Rae Bareli assembly constituencies in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. 

Image: PTI