Lies, says Rahul Gandhi to PM Modi’s charge from Amethi

New Delhi, Mar 04: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi on Monday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for "lying" in his election campaign in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday.

"I laid the foundation stone for Amethi ordnance factory in 2010 and for the past many years it has been manufacturing small arms. Yesterday you went to Amethi and, as usual, lied," the Congress president tweeted.

In his first visit to Amethi, the Lok Sabha constituency of Rahul, since coming to power in 2014, Modi inaugurated a manufacturing unit for AK-203 rifles, an India-Russia joint venture.

He accused previous governments of neglecting the armed forces and their needs.

The PM flayed the Congress for misusing the country's resources saying that the Amethi ordnance factory, launched in 2007, was supposed to begin production from 2010 but nothing happened.

"Tall promises were made. Your local MP promised that he would ensure employment to 1,500 locals in this ordnance factory but merely 200 got jobs. Imagine those who couldn't ensure jobs to people in Amethi are now lecturing on employment," Modi said, adding that the AK-203 would be the best publicity for Amethi.

"The AK-203 rifles will be manufactured in Amethi under Russia-India joint venture...these rifles will be known as 'made in Amethi' and will help our jawans in encounters with naxals and terrorists," Modi said.

Without naming Rahul, Modi said, "Some people go around giving speeches of 'made in Ujjain', 'made in Jaipur', 'made in Jaisalmer'...this is Modi. Now 'Made in Amethi' will be AK-203 rifles. It will help our jawans." He said the rifles will be made in bulk and exported also, thus presenting employment opportunities to the local youths.