LUCKNOW: Has the change of guards triggered a bloody trail in Amethi? Just three days after the announcement of 2019 Lok Sabha results which witnessed the demolition of Gandhi bastion in Amethi, a former village head who campaigned actively for Smriti Irani in the district was shot dead by unidentified assailants outside his house on intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, said the police sources.
While the district police suspected it to be a consequence of personal enmity, locals people of Amethi did not rule out the possibility of political rivalry. Victim Surendra Singh was the former pradhan of Baraulia village in Amethi. As per Amethi SP Rajesh Kumar, Surendra Singh was asleep in the verandah of his
house when one his family members spotted him lying in pool of blood in his cot in the wee hours on Sunday. “Singh was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead upon arrival,” said the SP.
While the police are still trying to ascertain the reason for the killing, the local administration has spruced up the security by deploying more force in the village apprehending law and order trouble. While six persons with whom Singh had strained relations in the past were taken into custody for questioning and probe was on, the villagers claimed that slain ex-gram pradhan was a BJP activist and campaigned vigorously for Smriti Irani in the recently concluded Lok Sabha election in the village an adjoining areas. “He even attended Irani’s victory celebration at BJP district office on Saturday evening,” said the sources.
As per the sources, Irani left for Amethi on Sunday early morning to be with the bereaved family of Surendra Singh. As per the local sources, village and block level villagers always accompanied Irani during her campaign. Surendra Singh used to be an active member of Irani’s campaign team. BJP’s Smriti Irani defeated Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi which had long been a Gandhi family bastion.
Baraulia village hit the headlines during the election campaign when Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused Irani of insulting the villagers by distributing shoes to them in order to insult Rahul Gandhi and Amethi and Rae Braeli.