Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi questioned the Narendra Modi government’s reported decision to cancel a mega food park in his constituency, implying “politics of revenge”.

Raising the issue during Zero Hour in the Lok Sabha on Thursday, Rahul, MP from Uttar Pradesh’s Amethi constituency, also questioned the Prime Minister on the promises that he made in his 52-minute pre-election speech in Amethi about practising the politics of change, not revenge.

“He (Modi) said a good thing and I liked it at that time,” Rahul said, adding that “silently this food park project was killed or an attempt was made to shut it down. I feel that this is bad for the farmers and for the credibility of the Prime Minister.”

A farmer in Amethi had asked him about the “magic” behind why potatoes sold by him fetched ₹2/kg while a packet of chips not having more than one potato cost ₹10, Rahul said. The food park would have helped farmers in 10-12 districts to sell directly and get a fair price for their produce, he pointed out, adding that it would have also created about 30,000 jobs in these districts.

At one point, reacting to continuous disruptions by ruling party MPs, he said: “I am not talking about suit but potato. You should not be scared.”

He was referring to his ‘suit-boot ki sarkar ’ jibe at the Modi government at an earlier occasion in the House.

Later, in an impromptu reply, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who also hails from UP, said as far as he knew, it was the company behind the mega food park that had backed out.

“I will have the matter looked into and personally inform you,” he said, adding that “there is no question of revenge”.

“We want development and that is not possible without wide support,” Rajnath said.

According to reports, the mega Shaktiman Food Park had been given in-principle approval and was to be set up by Aditya Birla Nuvo Ltd in Jagdishpur at a cost of ₹200 crore. It would have been the first such food park in UP.

Makes Twitter debut Meanwhile, Rahul made his Twitter debut on Thursday with an official account on the micro-blogging site. Following a formal launch, ‘Office of RG’ registered over 21,000 followers.

“We are happy to launch the Twitter account of the Office of Mr Rahul Gandhi (@officeOfRG),” an email message from his office said. Congress sources said that it is an “office account and not a personal account”.

“Rahul Gandhi will not be tweeting” but his office will be taking care of the twitter handle, they said. The very first tweet read: “Watch this space for information and updates on Rahul Gandhi’s official programs and upcoming events.”

Proceedings stayed The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the proceedings against Rahul in a criminal defamation case before a trial court in Maharashtra for allegedly blaming RSS for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.

“There shall be stay of further proceedings in a case pending before the trial court till the next date of hearing,” a bench comprising Justices Dipak Misra and PC Pant said. The case against Rahul is pending before a magisterial court at Bhiwandi in Maharashtra’s Thane district.

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