Smriti Irani will build a house in Amethi

Smriti Irani said that Amethi would now be her permanent home and she would be accessible to the people.

Union Minister Smriti Irani. Photo: Getty Images

AMETHI: Union minister Smriti Irani on Saturday did what Congress President Rahul Gandhi did not do in the past one-and-a-half decade. Irani announced on Saturday that she will construct her own house in Amethi and has already identified a plot in Gauriganj, reported IANS. She said that Amethi would now be her permanent home and she would be accessible to the people. Rahul Gandhi had been representing Amethi in the Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2019 and his mother Sonia Gandhi had won the seat in 1999. The Gandhi family, however, never found a permanent abode in Amethi and chose to stay in guest houses during their visits. Irani defeated Gandhi with margin of 55,120 in the bitterly contested high profile seat, which has fetched nation's attention. The Union Minister cultivated a strong voter base in the constituency with her numerous visits and using central development schemes in past five yeas, after she lost to the Congress President in 2014. Smriti Irani's decision to build a house in her constituency is a clear indication that she intends to continue her relationship with Amethi in the coming years. The minister also announced a slew of projects for her constituency on Saturday. Irani and Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant visited Amethi's Barolia village on Saturday to meet family members of BJP worker Surendra Singh, who was killed recently. Former Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had adopted Barolia in 2015 as a Rajya Sabha MP from Uttar Pradesh. "We are saddened at the death of Singh. He was a devoted party worker and the party stands with his family," Sawant told reporters after meeting the family. "Manohar Parrikar had adopted this village. If UP government wants, we will work on education, health, roads, water and other problems in this village in his (Parrikar's) memory," the Goa Chief Minister said. Former village head Surendra Singh was killed on May 25. Sawant was accompanied by Irani, who is on her first planned visit to her constituency after defeating Congress President Rahul Gandhi. (With inputs from IANS)