Lok Sabha elections: Priyanka Gandhi 'chickened out of contest' in Varanasi, Arun Jaitley says 'deeply disappointed'

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday targeted the brother-sister duo of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra saying one chickened out of the contest in Varanasi while the other has taken refuge in Wayanad.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said he was "disappointed" by the party's decision of not fielding Priyanka Gandhi against PM Narendra Modi after building up a "suspense for an eventual thriller" in the Lok Sabha elections.

NEW DELHI: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday targeted the brother-sister duo of Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra saying one chickened out of the contest in Varanasi while the other has taken refuge in Wayanad. Jaitley was referring to Gandhi contesting elections from Wayanad Lok Sabha seat in Kerala besides his traditional stronghold of Amethi in Uttar Pradesh and Priyanka not being in the fray from Varanasi, contrary to what was speculated. "The build-up of the last two weeks had been that Priyanka Gandhi would be fielded against the Prime Minister. She rejoiced in giving daily bytes to the media that she was ready to take on the Prime Minister," Jaitley wrote in a Facebook post. He said though the Congress chief claimed the party was "building up the suspense for an eventual thriller" but Priyanka "quietly chickened out of the contest". "I am deeply disappointed with the Congress Party's decision of not fielding Priyanka Gandhi from Varanasi." The Congress on Thursday announced Ajay Rai's candidature from Varanasi to take on Modi, ending speculation on a possible blockbuster electoral duel between Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and the Prime Minister in the Uttar Pradesh's temple town. "The myth of ‘Priyanka will make a difference’ was worth a lakh. Today, the myth has lost its value. The cards are out in the open for public scrutiny," Jaitley said. "I had only hoped that Varanasi will give the new India an opportunity to decide the fate of a tried, tested and successful leader as against a new political dynast." He said both Gandhi and Priyanka must introspect the plight of Amethi and Rae Bareli in the last forty years and compare it to what Modi has done in Varanasi in the past five years. Jaitley also wrote about Modi's mega roadshow in Varanasi to claim that if the size of the support expressed at the roadshow is any indication, the Prime Minister is well on the way repeating or even increasing the 2014 victory margin. "Even a casual visitor to Varanasi would tell you the difference which the Prime Minister has made in his constituency in the last five years. The new highways, the arterial roads, the Ghats, the railway station, the airport, the steamer in the Ganga and the modernisation of the electricity systems are only a few examples of the change that has happened in Varanasi," he said. The proposed corridor connecting the Ganga Ghats with the Kashi Vishwanath Temple puts a new life into one of the world’s oldest cities, the finance minister said. India is not a banana republic, the minister said, adding "It is only juvenile politics, where a family lives under an illusion that people will accept it irrespective of credentials, which persuades you to build a climax of Priyanka taking on the Prime Minister and then suffer the wrath of the anti-climax."