Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Saturday took on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the union Home Minister Amit Shah over being scared of fighting elections.
Addressing a largely attended public rally here today, Ms Gandhi said, while the Prime Minister Narendra Modi had run away to far off Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh as he had completely got disconnected from Gujarat, Amit Shah was so scared to contest elections that he was either trying to buy his opponents or intimidating them to stand down from the contest.
“Why are you scared of elections”, she asked the union Home Minister while referring to the reports that those who had filed nomination papers from Gandhinagar parliamentary constituency were being forced to withdraw from the contest.
She blasted Prime Minister Modi for calling Rahul Gandhi a ‘Shehzada’ (prince). She told him, it is the same ‘Shehzada’ who walked 4,000 kilometers from Kanyakumari to Kashmir, met and mingled with the common people like labourers, farmers, workers, shopkeepers and everyone and learnt about their problems.
She pointed out, unlike Modi who lives and behaves like an “Emperor” and confines himself within his “palace”, Rahul was grounded, meeting and talking to common Indians. She asked the public if they have ever seen Modi visiting any ordinary person’s house. She said, Modi had not even visited anyone’s place in his parliamentary constituency Varanasi.
Ms Gandhi also dismissed the myth about Modi’s honesty. Referring to Modi’s claims that there was not even a single allegation of corruption against him, she charged the Prime Minister of indulging in corruption through electoral bonds, which were held illegal by the Supreme Court of India. She said, the BJP amassed tens of thousands of crores of rupees through these bonds and splurged Rs 60,000 crores on the party.
She disclosed that the BJP took donations from dubious people including the contractor who had built the bridge in Gujarat, which collapsed causing death to so many people.
Similarly, she added, the BJP also took donations from the COVID vaccine manufacturing company. She pointed out how it has now been revealed that the vaccines had caused sudden deaths of so many youth.
Retorting to the oft-repeated question posed by the BJP as what did the Congress do in 55 years, she asked, Modi and the BJP, “tell us what you did in ten years except for spreading the poison of hatred and dividing people”. She pointed out, the Congress list is too long like the AIIMS, the IITs, the public sector undertakings, universities, colleges and hospitals, just to name a few.
Ms Gandhi warned the public against the designs of the BJP and its leaders to change the constitution. She said their intention was to weaken democracy and curtail the rights and freedom of people that were guaranteed by the constitution. She said their purpose was to finish the right of reservation that was guaranteed by the constitution.
Urging people to vote carefully and cautiously, she told them not to get carried away by Modi’s propaganda. She urged them to tell Modi that they are fed up with Hindu-Muslim politics and want development and employment.
The Congress general secretary listed several guarantees that her party has promised once INDIA forms the government at the centre.
Among these, she said, one woman in every poor family will get Rs one lakhs every year. She said, for the youth, there will be a Right to Apprenticeship under which they will get a guaranteed job for one year with Rs one lakh for that period.
She said farmers' debt will be waived off and they will get a legal guarantee for their MSP. Besides, all agricultural equipment will be exempted from the GST.
The minimum wages, she added, will be raised to Rs 400 per day from Rs 250 now.
Ms Gandhi said, the Congress has a proven record of doing everything it promises. She urged people to cross check from Congress ruled states, where it delivered on its promises immediately. Giving an example, she said, every woman in Karnataka was getting free bus travel and Rs 2,000 every month.
