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Business News/ Politics / Policy/  Rahul Gandhi files nomination papers from Amethi
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Rahul Gandhi files nomination papers from Amethi

Rahul Gandhi says he did not make any personal attack against BJP's Narendra Modi

Rahul was accompanied by his mother and party president Sonia Gandhi, sister Priyanka and her husband Robert Vadra when he filed nomination papers before the returning officer in Amethi. Photo: PTIPremium
Rahul was accompanied by his mother and party president Sonia Gandhi, sister Priyanka and her husband Robert Vadra when he filed nomination papers before the returning officer in Amethi. Photo: PTI

Amethi: Facing heat from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress party vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday rejected criticism that he made any personal attack on BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi.

“I did not get personal. I just stated that on his affidavits he had previously not mentioned something. So it’s not a personal thing," he told reporters here soon after filing his nomination papers for the Lok Sabha polls. He was responding to a question on his raking up the marital status of Modi while addressing a rally in Jammu and Kashmir on Friday. The BJP came out all guns blazing with Arun Jaitley asking how Rahul can be disturbed by a disclosure of a “legitimate" relationship when “many" of his partymen have “illicit" relationships.

Flanked by his mother Sonia Gandhi, sister Priyanka and brother-in-law Robert Vadra, Rahul, who is seeking re-election for a third consecutive term from Amethi constituency, filed his nomination papers and expressed confidence of registering a “good victory".

“We will have a good victory," 43-year-old Rahul, who is pitted against Smrita Irani of the BJP and Kumar Vishwas of the Aam Aadmi party, told reporters.

In the affidavit filed by him along with his nomination papers, he has disclosed that the total value of his real estate assets (including the advance of 6.8 crore paid on property) has increased from 4.4 crore in 2009 to 8.2 crore now. The doubling of the total value of the assets from 4.7 crore to 9.4 crore has been primarily due to appreciation in property prices.

The affidavit shows that Rahul does not own a car and as an SPG protectee he is required to travel in an SPG vehicle for security reasons.

Perched atop an SUV, Rahul Gandhi got a rousing reception. The Gandhi siblings waved enthusiastically as their convoy made its way through the huge crowd that had lined the entire 3km stretch to the district collectorate in Gauriganj where he filed his nomination.

In scenes similar to the one witnessed when Sonia Gandhi filed her nomination in neighbouring Rae Bareli, rose petals were showered on them as they moved in a convoy. Gandhi has held the Amethi seat since 2004.

Trashing projections of opinion polls that his party will lose elections, Rahul recalled that Congress had been written off by the such polls in 2004 as well as 2009 but those did not prove to be correct. “They (opinion polls) kept saying Congress will lose but you know what happened," he said, referring to his party’s unexpected victories in last two Lok Sabha elections.

Asked about certain controversial statements made by leaders of various political parties, Gandhi said attempts to polarize elections take place every time and the Congress will take everybody along. Priyanka Gandhi also said that her brother had not made any personal attack on Modi. “I don’t think he made a personal attack. He made a point that something was missing from the affidavit before. Besides, I don’t think they (BJP) are in a position to talk about personal attacks," she said.

Rahul Gandhi said he has focused on three things for development of Amethi—working with women bodies, connecting the area with national highways and railways and developing food park. He will focus on these issues in the future also to generate more employment for youths, he said. PTI

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Published: 12 Apr 2014, 04:43 PM IST
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