Battle lines: Rahul, Smriti to visit Amethi on same day

In an indication of the things to come in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls in the Nehru-Gandhi bastion of Amethi, both Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his political rival and Union minister Smriti Irani would be visiting the constituency on the same day.

According to Congress sources in Lucknow, Rahul would be on a two-day visit to Amethi from Friday.

Smriti will also be in Amethi on Friday on a day long visit, state BJP leaders in Lucknow said.

Sources said that it would be Rahul's first visit to his Lok Sabha constituency after leading his party to a resounding victory in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chattisgarh.

Congress workers have planned a grand reception for him.

''Rahul will be meeting local party workers and also launch some development schemes in Amethi... He is also likely to visit a few villages,'' a local Congress leader in Amethi said on Wednesday.

Smriti Irani, according to the BJP sources, would be taking part in a blanket distribution program in Amethi and would also be laying the foundation stone of a residential school during her visit.

Smriti, who had contested against Rahul from Amethi in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls but lost, is likely to contest from there again in 2019.

The Union minister has been a regular visitor to Amethi.

The BJP had organised several programs in the Nehru-Gandhi bastion in the past and several development schemes have also been announced for the constituency.