LUCKNOW: The three-day Ganga Yatra of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra culminated in the most ancient cultural city of Varanasi, the parliamentary constituency of PM Narendra Modi, on Wednesday.
A belligerent Congress general secretary launched a scathing attack on PM Modi without taking his name in his stronghold by accusing the BJP of systematically attacking every institution in last five years including the media.
"The prime minister should stop thinking that people are fools and understand that they can see through this," Priyanka Gandhi said.
Congress leader's retort came in response to PM Modi's attack on Gandhi family in his latest blog post where he had said that institutional insult was the Congress way. The prime minister also said that the top leadership of the Congress was "on bail vis-a-vis a major scam."
Priyanka countered the PM saying: "They think that those who speak against them are scared of them. This is not true. We are not scared of them." "No matter how much they harass us, we are not scared of them. We will keep fighting them. The more they harass us, stronger will be our fight against them," she said.
However, the Congress general secretary and in-charge eastern UP also accused the BJP of having failed to keep the promises made to the people of Varanasi in 2014.
Flashing the BJP manifesto of 2014 at a Holi Milan programme of Congress workers, Priyanka said it was high time to change the face of the politics which was turning into the politics of branding day by day.
"We don't want politics of negativity. It should be done for the development of the nation. But the aim of their (BJP) politics is to grab power and muzzle people's voice," she said.
She accused the BJP workers of shouting slogans and thrashing Congress workers while she was on way to the programme. "Congress doesn't indulge in such a politics. We fought against British rule through non-violence. We only brought the truth to the fore," she stated.
However, the Congress leader said that the struggle was still continuing. "The only difference is that 'the autocrat' on PM's chair now happens to be an Indian," said the Congress leader, and eastern UP in charge.
Priyanka acknowledged the fact that Congress was a weak organisation at the grass root and a lot of hard work was needed to consolidate it at the booth level. "We have to revive the Congres and its ideology on the basis of which we fought for the independence of this country," Priyanka told her party workers.
"If the Congress is voted to power, it would work for farmers and the poor," she asserted.
Earlier, Priyanka reached the residence former PM late Lal Bahadur Shastri to pay floral tributes to the great leader.
Then she went to Dashashwamedh Ghat by boat from Assi Ghat along the banks of holy Ganga. She worshipped the holy river and went to Kashi Vishwanath temple for darshan of Lord Shiva. She performed 'Jalabhishek' at the temple. From Kashi Vishwanath, Priyanka went to Piplani Katra to address Congress workers.
Here the party got a shot in its arm as Amrita Pandey, the daughter-in-law of state BJP chief and Chandauli MP Mahendra Nath Pandey's elder brother joined Congress. Before winding up her three-day sojourn to eastern UP, Priyanka paid a visit to a number of martyrs including those who sacrificed life in Pulwama last month.