Modi to storm Rahul's bastion

Prime minister Narendra Modi is all set to storm the Nehru-Gandhi bastion of Amethi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, on Sunday.

According to the BJP leaders, besides laying the foundation stone of several developmental projects Modi will also address a rally in Amethi.

Modi had earlier visited Amethi before the 2014 Lok Sabha polls to campaign in favour of Union minister Smriti Irani.

Local BJP leaders said that they intended to make Modi's rally a "historic" one.

"Modiji is coming here after surgical strike II... People are eager to listen to him," remarked a local BJP leader in Amethi.

The visit of the prime minister assumes significance in view of reports that Smriti Irani may once again be given the nomination to contest against Rahul.

Smriti had lost by around one-lakh votes in 2014 but ever since she has been frequenting the constituency.

In fact there has been a competition of sorts between Rahul and Smriti and both have been trying to outdo each other in reaching out to the electorate by providing them sops of different kinds.

Recently, Smriti had helped screen the movie Uri-The Surgical Strike at dozens of places in Amethi.

Apart from distributing sarees to the women in the constituency, She had also sent around 25,000 people from there to the 'Kumbh' to take the holy dip at 'Sangam' in Prayagraj.

Not wanting to be left behind Rahul had distributed volleyball kits to the youth in the constituency. The Congress president had also got mercury lights fitted at several temples in the area.

Though Rahul had managed to win Amethi in 2014 with a reduced margin, the saffron party had won four of the five Assembly seats in the Lok Sabha constituency in 2017.

The Samajwadi Party had won one seat and the Congress had drawn a blank.