Raebareli (UP), Sep 9 (IANS) : Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, who is on a visit to his parliamentary constituency of Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, on Wednesday held a ‘Janata Darbar’ where he listened to the grievances of locals in the area. Workers of the Samajwadi Party also met Gandhi during the meeting.
Workers of the Samajwadi Party also met Gandhi during the meeting.
Speaking to IANS after meeting Gandhi, a local said: “I had a very cordial meeting with Rahul ji. He asked us about our problems, so I raised an issue concerning a road in our neighbourhood. I mentioned the Lucknow Road leading to ITI, which connects two national highways — the Raebareli-Lucknow Highway on one side and the Sultanpur Highway on the other. There are huge potholes on that road despite NIFT and an institution like ITI being located there, and there is also a very large temple which is visited by a large number of people. Two people had performed the ‘bhoomi pujan’ for the road and said that it would be constructed soon. There has been a lot of politics over it, but the road has still not been constructed.”
“Rahul Gandhi has assured us that he will look into it,” he added.
A local woman said: “I told Rahul ji that whenever he comes here, he should take a tour of the city and assess the situation, so that we can discuss the basic problems here and raise them with him. He said that he would look into these issues going forward.”
SP leaders and workers also met the Leader of Opposition in Raebareli.
Akhilesh Mahi, State Secretary of the Mulayam Singh Youth Brigade, met Gandhi to demand the construction of a memorial and a public square named after Rajendra Yadav, a martyr from Raebareli who lost his life in the 1999 Kargil War. Mahi stated that while Rajendra Yadav was martyred in the service of the nation, neither a statue nor a memorial had been established in his name in Raebareli so far.
According to Mahi, he urged Rahul Gandhi to facilitate the creation of the memorial and square in the martyr’s honour, and was assured of prompt action.
“Rahul Gandhi is a prominent leader and, with his support, the BJP would face a stiff challenge this time. The INDIA bloc would form the government with an absolute majority in Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming Assembly elections,” Mahi remarked.
Office-bearers of the Mahila Congress also met Rahul Gandhi at the event.
Shailaja Singh, the District President of the Congress women’s wing, met Rahul Gandhi to welcome him to Raebareli. Praising him for championing the cause of the youth during a student-focused event, she described him as the voice of the youth’s future.
Anil Mishra, President of the Freedom Fighters’ Descendants Organisation, submitted a memorandum to Rahul Gandhi, demanding the preservation of the sacrifices made by the state’s freedom fighters and martyrs, as well as the early completion of the unfinished beautification work at the Munshiganj Martyrs’ Memorial.
Jyoti Behan from the Brahma Kumaris also met Gandhi and tied a ‘rakhi’ to him.
Speaking to IANS, a member of the organisation said: “On behalf of the Brahma Kumaris institution and the people of the district, we extended our best wishes to him. We hope that he continues to visit here and that the city keeps progressing. We also tied a ‘rakhi’ on his wrist, conveying our best wishes to him.”
Meanwhile, LoP Gandhi held a meeting with bullion traders on Tuesday night, where the traders raised the issue of a nearly 50 per cent decline in the gold and silver trade, noting that their businesses were suffering as a result of it. Gandhi reportedly assured them that the issue of the increased GST on gold and silver would be raised in the Parliament.
On the last day of his visit to the constituency on Wednesday, Gandhi discussed issues related to development works with officials during the ‘Disha Meeting’ held at ‘Bachaav Bhawan’ in Raebareli.
