Lucknow, February 9, 2013 -Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi once again faced an uncomfortable question from voters in Amethi, who asked him why he was delaying his marriage.
“There is no point delaying it further. It is high time you get married. And most importantly, wherever the baraat goes, you must ensure that it starts from Amethi,” they told Gandhi on Friday.
In response, Rahul smiled and said, “It will happen soon.”
The conversation took place on the second day of his visit, when he randomly went inside ‘Chandan Garment’ in Amethi’s Chowk Market and began interacting with Devi Prasad Kasaudhan, owner of the shop and his family members.
“I had just opened the shop when Rahul stopped his cavalcade and came in. Since we reside in the same building, my wife Kusum and son Chandan were also there in the shop. He asked us about the business activities in Amethi and what the youth like the most in my shop. It was really a wonderful chat with our MP about his marriage,” Devi Prasad told Mail Today.
“We have the privilege to ask him a personal question because he belongs to our family. He always says that Amethi is not his political turf, it is his family and we are part of it. So, we want to see him as a bridegroom with his bride as soon as possible and hope that he will respect our emotion. He has also promised that the baraat will proceed from here,” he further said.
The members of Kasaudhan family also asked him when he would take over as Prime Minister.
“When I told him that he should now also be prepared to take over as PM in 2014, he asked me what would be the situation of the Congress in Lok Sabha elections. I didn’t mind telling him that the situation was not good. Then he asked me what should he do to improve the Congress’ image for the next election and I replied that only he can change the scene by allowing the party to project him as PM candidate. I said although it would be a very tough task for him to convince the people that the skyrocketing prices of essential commodities would be checked soon, the fact remains that only he could do this. I can say on the basis of his facial expression that he knows the ground reality and also knows that he has to face the inflation-hit people in Parliamentary elections,” he further said.
Rahul had tea, cashews and then a glass of milk which was offered to him by Kusum Kasaudhan.
Rahul visits Amethi every month but this time an unusual gesture was displayed by the people in Babuganj area of the constituency when they expressed their wish to weigh him with laddoos. He obliged them by sitting on a tarazu (balance) to be weighed in laddoos.
Although he is not new to the constituency he is representing since 2004, there was extreme excitement among the Congress workers to welcome him as the party’s vice-president.
Over 500 Congress workers stopped his caravan in Gauriganj and threw gulaal on him.
However, a brief panic was felt there when the engine of a jammer-fitted SUV in his security caught fire. It was a few yards ahead of the car in which Rahul was sitting. Later on, the SPG removed it from the convoy.
While sharpening his attack against the Samajwadi Party (SP) government in UP, the Congress leader asked people in a street meeting in Salon area whether the people had got any benefit after making Akhilesh Yadav the chief minister of the state.
“Did the students get laptops and tablets?” he asked.
When they told him that it was delayed, he asked again, “Did the girl students get money under Kanya Vidya Dhan Yojana?”
When some girls told him that it was given to only those who were close to the SP leaders, he said, “Akhilesh didn’t fulfill the promise which he had made to you in the assembly election. You didn’t get laptops and the state is also facing a power crisis.”
