Is Rahul unable to defend his own turf: Smriti fights back against Priyanka

Priyanka Gandhi and Human Resources Development Minister Smriti Irani were on Wednesday engaged in a war of words after the Congress leader said an IIIT was not being set up in her mother Sonia Gandhi’s Rae Bareli constituency by the Union minister who hit back by saying that she has not done her “homework”.

A day after Irani attacked the Nehru-Gandhi family saying that after years of hollow promises Amethi and Rae Bareli will now see development, Priyanka asked what was stopping the HRD minister from setting up an IIIT in Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh.

“She is the HRD minister. First she should tell us why she is not setting up an IIIT here. The youth are facing a lot of problems and this is her department. Why is she not looking into it,” Priyanka said in Rae Bareli while interacting with reporters.

Soon after, Irani, who was holding a press conference in Midnapore in West Bengal, responded by saying that “Mrs Vadra has not done her homework. There is an off campus of IIT Allahabad in Amethi. What is astounding is that while the Gandhi family has ruled the bastion for 60 years, they have done absolutely nothing.

“And now, a winning candidate is asking a losing candidate to develop his constituency -- a constituency his family has been reining for over 60 years.”

Irani said she was “expecting such an attack” because she was in Amethi on Tuesday.

“I have said this before, that at least due to my presence, Amethi will see more of the Gandhi family. And that statement of mine is turning out to be true,” she said responding to a question on IIIT.

The Union minister wondered whether Congress believes that “Mr Gandhi is not capable enough to defend his own turf that he needs additional ammunition.”

Continuing her attack on the Nehru-Gandhi family, Irani said despite the fact that she lost to Rahul in Amethi, she paid from her pocket the first year premium of 25,000 residents of Amethi for the Pradhan Mantri Suraksha Beema Yojna which she initiated there.

“I paid for 25,000 citizens of Amethi the first year premium out of my own pocket. Have you ever heard of any Gandhi doing that in Amethi before,” she asked.

Image: Priyanka Gandhi with locals of Amethi. The Congress president's daughter was in Amethi a day after HRD Minister Smriti Irani slammed the Gandhi family. Photograph: @AME_ki_Kahani/Twitter