Three days after Rahul Gandhi visited a Dalit dominated village in Amethi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi toured 17 villages in her constituency of Rae Bareli to “listen to the problems of villagers”. This was her first visit to her constituency after the Lok Sabha election.

Sonia asked villagers whether they benefited from Central schemes like NREGA, Mid Day Meal and Indira Awas Yojana, and issued on the spot directions to district officers accompanying her to redress the villagers’ complaints.

Sonia’s tour began at 10.30 in the morning from Beriyan Tola village. A young Dalit woman, Vidya, took Sonia’s hand and led her to a heap of debris, of her house that collapsed in the rain last year, forcing her family to live under a thatched roof, supported by wooden poles and with no walls. Sonia assured her that she “would do something about her problem”.

The next stop was at Sabji village, where villagers complained that children were not getting the mid-day meals in local schools for the past fortnight. Sonia asked her representative Kishori Lal Sharma to inquire about the matter immediately. In most of the villages Sonia visited, people complained about non-payment or delayed payment of NREGS wages.