Firdaus Khan
Bahadurpur (Uttar Pradesh).Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi, who is on a one-day visit to Amethi, laid the foundation stone for three national highway projects in his parliament constituency. While addressing a public meeting after the function, the Congress MP, striking an emotional chord with the people of his constituency, said that Amethi is his home and it is his family.

Rahul Gandhi said I recently read a book on Gandhi Ji. There was a photo in which Gandhi Ji was addressing a public meeting and people were coming out in large numbers through the nearby fields to hear him.  Today I was thinking why people are not coming through the fields. I got the answer immediately. During those times there were no sufficient roads here. But today we have roads. All of you have come via roads, either on foot or by vehicles. Today, even this meeting would not have possible, if we have no roads. The nation building cannot be complete without proper and sufficient roads.

I remember those days when I used to come here alongwith my father.  There were only one or two pucca roads; rest were just kachcha. But today, you can see that there are a number of proper roads across Amethi. Rajiv Gandhi has started the national highway project with NH 56, passing through Jagdishpur Industrial estate. We also have built two national highways during my earlier term in the Lok Sabha - namely  232 connecting Raebareli to Sultanpur and 231- Raebareli-Salon-Pratapgarh.  I feel very happy that we are now launching three more highways here in Amethi - NH 330, 931 and 931A – connecting Raebareli to Jagdishpur, Faizabad; Chindwa to Gauriganj; Salon to Jayas – Jagdishpur Marg;  I thank Union Minister Joshi Ji for his support and initiative. Roads have an important role for development and that is why we give more focus in this direction. I can tell you with pride that there is no any other place in the entire country where there are more roads than in Amethi. This project aims to construct 520 km road worth Rs. 420 crore.

As you know, lots of people of Amethi are engaged in the cultivation of rose flowers. You take flowers to Lucknow and Delhi. My dream is that, in ten years, the people from here will be able to sell their grains and flowers even in America, England or in Dubai. This has been our vision. For that we need proper roads and sufficient national highways. We are also planning to construct a food park over here in which there will be about 40 food processing units. There will be sufficient refrigeration facilities also. There is an airport nearby and I wish to broaden the runway there.   The farmers here will first get the food processing units.  The food processed will be transported to Lucknow or Delhi or America and by which they will be financially benefitted. This is my dream.  I dream a day when many youngsters from Amethi will be running their own business in America and they will have the flowers from Amethi on their table.

This is not a big deal. We can accomplish it. What we need is to dream big; If we dream big, we can achieve big things.  Now you have new national highways, railway lines and your Railway station has been upgraded. We do all these so as to connect Amethi to the rest of the world - through roads, telephones, Railways and airports.  Now only the people of India know about Amethi. But in 10-15 years, even the people of America and England will know about Amethi. I have told you on many occasions that Amethi is my family, it is my home. Definitely I have a political relationship with you but it is like a family relationship. I travel across the country, but nowhere else other than here in Amethi, I feel myself more happy and relaxed. Though you entrust me with more and responsibilities, I like the smiles in your faces very much.