RailEnquiry

Congress president Sonia Gandhi will inaugurate the much-awaited rail coach factory in Rae Bareli, her Parliamentary constituency, on November 7.

Her two-day visit is viewed by many as an early start of 2014 Lok Sabha election campaign in her constituency with the hope of maintaining the margin of victory with which she got elected in past elections.

"Our leader will inaugurate the rail coach factory in Lalganj area on November 7. With this, she will silence our detractors who have been accusing us of doing politics in the name of the factory instead of opening it and giving jobs to the youth of the area," said Dwijendra Tripathi, spokesman of the UP Congress committee.

"We had made many promises to the people of the constituency which would be fulfilled before the Lok Sabha elections. She will be there on November 7 and 8 to inaugurate the factory and also take stock of other developmental works," Tripathi added.

The railway ministry is clearing all hurdles and trying to ensure that the Congress president gets a rousing reception during her visit.

The government had initially announced that at least one member of each family of those 1,450 farmers, whose land had been acquired for the factory would be given a job in the factory. But a clause of 33 years as maximum age for employment had created unrest among the farmers because 60 per cent of them who were below 33 years when their land was acquired in 2008-09 had now crossed this age limit.

Laxmi Singh, a resident of village Bannamau in Lalganj told this newspaper that they have got assurance from the railway officials and senior Congressmen that Sonia was personally addressing this issue.

"Over 60 per cent farmers whose lands were acquired between 2008 and 2009 were below the age of 33 at that time. But now they are above 33 years when the appointment process has started. Their children are also not eligible for the job because they are below 18 years. We have come to know from the railway officers and Congressmen that Sonia has finally asked the railway ministry to ensure that all those whose lands were acquired get a job there," she said.

For the record, over 541 hectares of land, including 283 hectares belonging to farmers, was acquired for the dream project. Before that, the state had witnessed a high-voltage drama as the then Mayawati government had refused to provide any land for the project and Sonia had declared that she would start a movement, even if the state government puts her in jail. Mayawati had finally completed the process of acquisition in January 2009.

It is after a long gap that Sonia will stay in her constituency for two days and meet the party workers and the voters. She is also expected to visit some villages. The Congress president will also unveil a statue of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi at the zila panchayat office.

Although she used to visit the constituency every alternate month in past, she remained absent from there after her illness. She had attended only a few meetings during Assembly elections. She visited the constituency last time on July 26 for a few hours only.

Uma Shankar Mishra, District Congress Committee President said, "Now she will visit the area every alternate months. She had won in 2004 with a margin of about 250000 votes and in 2009 with about 350000 votes. We will start working from November 7 to ensure that she wins with more than 450000 votes."