Union Minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday took the fight to Rahul Gandhi on his home turf.

Speaking in Amethi on the food park issue, Irani declared that the Gandhi scion was more interested in protecting the interests of a business house while ignoring the plight of farmers.

On a visit to the district to meet farmers affected by unseasonal rains and hailstorm, the BJP leader said, “When Rahul Gandhi spoke for the first time in Amethi, he was talking for a business house. He did not speak for the farmers of Amethi.

If you look at the documents of district officials, you will understand that from 2010 to 2014, the land was not provided by Congress. Whatever help had to be given for gas was not given for long.
– Smriti Irani, Union HRD Minister

The food park issue has clearly turned out to be the Congress Vice President’s Achilles heel – for despite having raised the issue himself in Lok Sabha (accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of practising “politics of revenge” by cancelling the food processing plant), the contention has been celverly thrown back at him by Irani.

Pointing out the unmissable – that Rahul had been “missing” from his constituency for a while, Smriti Irani declared that the dreams shown by three generations of Congress can only be fulfilled by the Narendra Modi government.

Asked if she had planned her visit in view of Gandhi’s forthcoming visit to Amethi, she retorted, “Rahul Gandhi’s timing is suspect, not mine”.

(With PTI inputs)