Rahul to visit Amethi to ascertain cause of defeat

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi would be visiting Amethi on Wednesday with his sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to what the local leaders said to ''ascertain'' the reasons behind his shocking defeat on his home turf in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls.

According to the UP Congress sources here, Rahul would be arriving on a day-long visit to Amethi during which he would be holding meetings with the local party leaders and workers besides interacting with a cross-section of the electorate.

It would be Rahul's first visit to Amethi after losing the seat to Union Minister Smriti Irani by over 50 thousand votes.

''The visit is mainly to ascertain what may have caused the defeat in the Congress bastion,'' said a senior state Congress leader while speaking to DH here on Monday.

The visit comes almost a month after a ''secret review'' conducted by a two-member team, which had been sent by the party's central leadership to Amethi to look into the possible reasons that may have led to the defeat of the outgoing party president.

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi's representative Kishori Lal Sharma and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's aide Zubair Khan had met local party leaders in Amethi to ascertain the reasons, sources said.

The team had met village 'pradhans' (panchayat chiefs) and booth level party workers to get their views.

The team had then been told about possible ''sabotage'' by some local party leaders. The review had been kept secret and no leader from the state Congress was included in the team nor had they been informed about the same.