Angry protesters greet Rahul Gandhi in Rae Bareli, Amethi

Angry protesters greeted Rahul Gandhi here and in Amethi, his Lok Sabha constituency, on the first day of his two-day visit to Uttar Pradesh on Monday, his first after becoming the Congress president.

As the Congress chief's convoy was leaving Salon, which falls in Amethi Lok Sabha constituency but is in Rae Bareli district, for the next the venue, Parshderpur, some BJP workers raised slogans against him.

Commotion ensued as activists of the BJP and the Congress came face to face and the police had to intervene.

In the melee, Congress MLC from Rae Bareli Deepak Singh was seen engaged in a verbal exchange with Additional SP Shekhar Singh, after which the protesters were chased away.

However, local BJP MLA Dal Bahadur Kori took offence to the manner in which the protesters were dispersed.

In Amethi also, Rahul Gandhi had to face angry protesters at Rajiv Gandhi Chowk because of which he could not garland the statue of his father.

Supporters of the BJP and the Congress fought a pitched battle, giving the local police and PAC constables a trying time.

The irate protesters led by BJP leader and local trader Rajesh 'Masala' "welcomed" Rahul Gandhi as their "missing MP" and accused him of "grabbing farmers' land for own trust", "ignoring the development of Amethi" and "not utilising the MPLAD funds".

They also charged him with not listening to the problems of the local people, ignoring health and education needs and laying foundation stones of "fake" projects.