Smriti Irani visits Rahul Gandhi's LS constituency Wayanad, reviews implementation of central schemes

Union Minister Smriti Irani on Tuesday held a meeting with officials in Wayanad - the constituency represented by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi - to review the implementation of welfare works and schemes of the central government.

"In the aspirational district of Wayanad today, chaired a meeting with officials to review the implementation of welfare works and schemes of Central Government," Irani said in a tweet.

The Union Women and Child Development Minister also visited Varadoor Anganwadi Centre developed by a Central Government PSU as part of its CSR activities in Kaniyambetta Gram Panchayat of Wayanad district. She also spent time with children at Ponnada Anganwadi Centre in Kalpetta, Wayanad and interacted with tribal families of Maravayal and Ambalachal areas in Wayanad.

Irani's visit to Wayanad comes when Rahul Gandhi visited Nepal to "attend a wedding". He was seen in a viral video at a nightclub in Nepal's capital Kathmandu. While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders grabbed the opportunity to hit out at Rahul Gandhi, Congress sharply reacted and said "it has still not become a crime in this country to attend a marriage celebration".

However, there is no independent authentication of the contents of the viral video.

Irani and Rahul Gandhi have been political rivals in Amethi since 2014. She was pitted by the BJP against Rahul Gandhi in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls but was defeated by over one lakh votes. However, Irani emerged as a giant killer in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and defeated Rahul Gandhi in the Congress stronghold. Rahul Gandhi had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha polls from two seats and won from Wayanad.

Irani also posted a video on Twitter with the caption "For our friends in Wayanad..." which accused Congress and Rahul Gandhi of stalling development in Amethi. The video talked about several development initiatives in Amethi which began after the BJP came to the power at the Centre in 2014.

( With inputs from ANI )