Sonia Gandhi slams Mayawati for ignoring Rae Bareli, Amethi

Congress president Sonia Gandhi displayed unusual belligerence on Monday while referring to the Mayawati regime in Uttar Pradesh (UP).

Political observers in the state are surprised at her harsh tone and tenor in decrying the lack of development in UP, especially in view of the Bahujan Samaj Party’s crucial support to the UPA government during the cut motion in parliament recently.

The Congress president, who is on a three-day visit to Rae Bareli, charged the Mayawati government with deliberately neglecting development in her constituency, Rae Bareli, as well as in neighbouring Amethi, from where son, Rahul Gandhi, is an MP.

“The Centre has been sending ample funds to UP, but they are not being utilised,” Sonia asserted while addressing villagers in Rae Bareli’s Sareni assembly constituency. “Development works are being neglected… Rae Bareli and Amethi are the worst-affected… these areas are being neglected due to political reasons,” she said.

Sonia’s stern statements are being seen as a response to Mayawati’s recent broadside against the Congress and the UPA regime on the occasion of her completing three years as UP chief minister. “Despite being the most populous state, UP gets only 7% of central resources while Bihar gets about 25%,” Mayawati had pointed out at a recent press meet. She also said over the past three years, the Centre had not released Rs17,492 crore due to UP. “If we had got these funds, the development scenario would have been different,” she had asserted.

UP Congress spokesman Akhilesh Pratap Singh countered, “Before the Congress came to power, UP’s plan size was around Rs8,000 crore. In the very first year of the UPA regime, it was increased to Rs13,500 crore and in 2009-10, it was Rs39,500 crore. There is no shortage of central funds… Mayawati should learn to utilise tax-payers’ money judiciously instead of wasting it on statues and memorials.”