Exclusive: Rahul Gandhi, other Congress leaders, spent entire MPLAD funds for Amethi's development

With the BJP cornering Rahul Gandhi for “ignoring” Amethi and “running” towards Wayanad fearing defeat in his bastion, the Congress president, along with several other senior party leaders, have disbursed all the allocated MPLAD funds funds for the development of the politically crucial Lok Sabha constituency.

In fact, the document elucidating the details of the funds allotted to the party MPs and the amount spent by them, exclusively accessed by News Nation, shows that Rahul spent Rs 26.85 crore against the Rs 25 crore allotted to him for the development of Amethi.

Other than Rahul, actress-turned-politician Rekha – former Rajya Sabha MP – spent the Rs 2.25 crore allotted in 2014. She was the member of the Upper House till 2018.

Former Union minister Kapil Sibal disbursed Rs 2.07 crore, Deepak Singh, Congress MLC and Rahul Gandhi's aide in Amethi, spent Rs 7.53 crore allotted to him and Pramod Tiwari – a nine-time MLA from Rampur Khas in Pratapgarh – has disbursed Rs 66 lakh.

According to sources, the party keeping its focus on Amethi is believed to be a damage-control move by the party after Rahul’s victory margin in the seat reduced from over 3 lakh in 2009 to over 1 lakh in 2014.

Also, the BJP has been cornering the Congress chief over his candidature from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat, other than Amethi. The saffron party has alleged that Rahul is afraid of being defeated and has thus “ran away” to the southern state.