Amethi's facelift in the last five years, Rahul recounted, included setting up academic institutions, building of 800 km stretch of roads, cataract camps that cured 25,000 patients and the burgeoning chain of women self help groups which, he claimed, enjoys a two lakh strong membership. The fruit of his labours elsewhere may take a little longer to show up but with his father and people of Amethi playing guiding stars, he would reach the goal well in time, he said.
The best part of the speech was devoted to his father. Rahul traced his first journey to Amethi when he was "barely 12 and would listen to his father's speeches unable to make any sense out of them". He has come a long way ever since and though he has lost his father now he had the residents of Amethi to show him the way, he said, amidst wild applause from the audience.
The minister for steel and mining, Ram Bilas Paswan who accompanied the MP along with the state minister Jitin Prasad, even fixed the date of the inauguration of the new venture. I promise you all that on 28 January, 2010 Rahul Gandhi will formally inaugurate the plant, he told the cheering crowds. In a frontal attack on Maya government, Paswan said that the state government had failed to provide the farmers with fertiliser and DPT despite the fact that Centre had been regular with its supply and subsidy.
One ton of DPT cost the government Rs 50,000, he said, but the subsidised rate for the farmer was only 4,800. Similarly, MOP, which was procured by the centre for Rs 32,000 per ton, was supplied at Rs 4,830 a ton. He had already written a letter to the state government inquiring into non-availability of both here, the minister said.
Sharpening the attack without naming the UP chief minister, Paswan cautioned the dalit voters to be wary of opportunistic politicians who were out with the divisive card and playing politics to stymie the development work. I fail to understand why some people suffer from gripes whenever Rahul tries to share the miseries of dalits, he remarked, alluding to Mayawati's reservations about the MP's dalit agenda. Rahul needed their blessing to nurture into a tree the little 450 crore sapling he has planted in Jagdishpur, he said.
For records, Malvika Steel Plant had closed down in 1998 and had been involved in a legal battle ever since. On January 20 after a favourable judgment from the court the take over was planned. Now the unit taken over by SAIL will be looked after by Bokaro steel plant, as per the minister.
