LUCKNOW: AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused PM Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders of influencing the people of Amethi against the Gandhi family.
She stated that for a period, the people of Amethi were influenced by the opposition's narrative and voted against Rahul Gandhi, resulting in his defeat in 2019. However, she emphasized that their connection with the Gandhi family was never severed.
While addressing a gathering of party workers late on Thursday night in Amethi, Priyanka said, "The BJP tried to misguide the people and incite them against us saying that we only wanted to grab their land and property. Consequently, some of you got swayed and Rahul ji was defeated in 2019. The old ties between my family and you came to a halt for some time but they were never broken," she maintained.
She accused the BJP leaders, especially, PM Modi of practising the politics of lies and theatrics.
"Look at the language of ‘Mangalsutra’ and X-ray the PM uses in his speeches. He doesn't have the courage to spell out to you how much jobs he has given so far. He should tell people how much development his government has done during the past decade instead of condemning the Congress rule of 70 years," she asserted.
Naming BJP candidate Smriti Irani in Amethi, the AICC general secretary said that she (Smriti) could never understand the ethos and depth of the relationship between Gandhi and the people of Amethi as she was there just to defeat Rahul Gandhi and not to understand the people of Amethi.
Recalling the days when she used to manage her mother Sonia Gandhi’s campaign in Amethi in 1999, Priyanka said then there was no organisation of Congress on the ground. “We used to work round the clock to reorganise the party besides carrying out our campaign at a time when Kalyan Singh was UP CM and we had no resources.”
She claimed that she valued the ties with Amethi a great deal. “I have learnt while working in Amethi how to sustain, protect and nurture the relations,” said Priyanka.
She said that while managing the election of her mother, she could realise how deep were the ties of love, affection and respect between the people of Amethi and her family, how much respect they had for her father. "I could realise that such ties should always be respected," she added.
"After that my brother came to Amethi and he worked for you to the best of his capabilities," said Priyanka while addressing the people.
"Then the politics took a turn for which we were unfit as it was against our ‘sanskars’. We were told not to lie to people, to respect people as they are supreme. We were witnessing the emergence of a new brand of politics which was using the emotions of people, making the political discourse religion centric to divert the attention of the innocent public from real issues ," said Priyanka while taking a veiled jibe at the emergence of saffron rule in the country.
She said she used to worship her father and Amethi was his 'Karmabhoomi' and that it was pious both for her and Rahul Gandhi as much as for KL Sharma.
"We have thoughtfully made Sharmaji our candidate as he is aware of the pulse of the people of Amethi," she claimed.
She repeated that her father Rajeev Gandhi inherited the spirit of sacrificing his life for the country.