Rahul Gandhi to visit Amethi on August 17

After Sonia Gandhi's recent visit to Rae Bareli, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi will tour his Amethi Lok Sabha constituency from August 17 to see the pace of development projects.

With villagers complaining that benefits of various central welfare schemes were not reaching the poor, Rahul is expected to pay surprise visits to some villages in the constituency, party sources said.

They said during his three-day visit the Congress MP will also review the progress made under UPA's flagship rural job guarantee programme NREGA when he will travel to the interior areas. During his earlier visit this month, the young Congress leader had visited Kansapur and spent a night with a Dalit family.

Rahul will attend a convocation ceremony of Rajiv Gandhi Information Technology Institute here and inaugurate a hostel.

His visit comes close on the heels of a similar tour by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to her constituency Rae Bareli earlier this week during which people complained about law and order and poverty.

Both Sonia and Rahul have often accused the Mayawati government of not effectively implementing central schemes for the poor.