Arun Jaitley to spend MPLAD fund in Sonia Gandhi's Rae Bareli

LUCKNOW: Union finance minister Arun Jaitley, who is a Rajya Sabha MP from UP, will spend his MP Local Area Development fund in Rae Bareli, the parliamentary constituency represented by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Jaitley's representative and UP BJP spokesperson Hero Bajpayee said the backwardness of the district had prompted the finance minister to address various demands from the district.
The move is being seen by political experts as yet another BJP attempt to breach the Congress citadel ahead of the crucial Lok Sabha elections. BJP sources said that Jaitley is likely to visit Rae Bareli in the first or second week of November.
Bajpayee said the party is lining up proposals which would be announced by Jaitley when he visits Rae Bareli. Party sources, however, ruled out the possibility of Jaitley contesting from Rae Bareli in the general elections.
"The finance minister's initiative will strengthen BJP in the Congress stronghold," said a senior party leader. Earlier this year, Congress MLC from Rae Bareli, Dinesh Pratap Singh, had defected to the saffron camp.
BJP RS MP and Union textile minister Smriti Irani has also been making regular visits to Amethi, the parliamentary constituency represented by Congress president Rahul Gandhi. Irani had contested against Rahul in 2014 but lost by nearly 1 lakh votes.
Under MPLAD, an MP has a choice to pick up a district and spend Rs 5 crores per annum on works. Bajpai said the people of Rae Bareli have been demanding many facilities, including a university, for quite some time.
BJP had asked its RS MPs to select a district for spending their MPLAD funds. Union housing and urban affairs minister Hardeep Singh Puri, who is also a RS MP from UP, has chosen Sonbhadra.