Election seasons make the political arena brimming with rhetoric and grand claims, recently, a war of words was seen between Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Prime Minister Narendra Modi which resulted in several verbal spats between the two leaders and their parties. Priyanka, on Wednesday, again launched a scathing attack on PM Modi, stating that he heavily relies on his “imagination” rather than the actual facts while delivering speeches.
Her remarks came in response to the remark made by PM Modi yesterday that if Congress is voted to power they will reverse the Supreme Court verdict on Ram Mandir just like the landmark 1985 ruling in the Shah Bano case was overturned by the Rajiv Gandhi government as part of the party’s “appeasement politics”.
Speaking to news agency PTI, Priyanka talked about her campaign in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli and challenged PM Modi to address pressing concerns–unemployment, inflation, and farmers’ issues.
People Are Fed Up Now, They Want Change: Priyanka
Asked about her assessment of the ground situation after three rounds of the seven-phase polls, Priyanka Gandhi said, “My assessment is that people are now wanting change. Everywhere I go I get the sense that people are fed up now of being lied to, they are fed up with the level of discussion that is taking place in the media and on political stages.”
“They want their problems to be discussed, they want solutions, they want to know what the government has done for unemployment, what has it done to reduce prices which are so high, what is it doing to actually help the farmers, help the labourer, help the people with their problems,” she told PTI.
It is to be noted that Priyanka is on the campaign trail in Uttar Pradesh’s Rae Bareli from where her brother Rahul Gandhi is contesting the Lok Sabha polls.
Winds Are Changing: Priyanka
During the interview, she further said she is getting the impression that “winds of change are blowing in the country”. On BJP’s big claim of “400 paar” for the NDA and 370 for the BJP, she claimed their estimations are “going down”.
Asked about the issues raised by the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi such as the claim that the Congress will “redistribute wealth” if it comes to power, Priyanka said, “I challenge the prime minister to raise the issue of unemployment which is the worst it has been in 45 years. I challenge the prime minister to tell us which institutions the BJP has built, I challenge the prime minister to name one scheme that he has actually started himself and is not a scheme that was started by the Congress but he has renamed.”
“I challenge the prime minister to tell us how he is going to reduce prices. I challenge the PM to tell us how he is going to reduce the difficulties farmers are facing and how he is going to help them,” she said.
Congress Taking Up ‘BJP Will Change Constitution’ Charge Strongly: Priyanka
On Congress’s claim that BJP wants to change the Constitution, she said there are certain people who are fighting on behalf of the BJP, specifically the candidate in Meerut and some ministers, who have all stated in public that if the people gove the BJP more than 40 seats, they will change the Constitution.
"So, the Congress has taken this up extremely strongly because it is the Constitution that gives the right to vote, it is the Constitution that gives the right to reservation. It is the Constitution that upholds democracy in this country," she said.
"We have taken it up extremely strongly, all of us talk about it. We are not going to allow the BJP to change the Constitution and to weaken the rights of the people," she said.
Asked about the prime minister's claim that the Congress would take away reservation to benefit minorities and that the party would reverse the Supreme Court verdict on the Ram temple if voted to power, Priyanka Gandhi hit out at Modi and said he was "using his imagination a lot" in his speeches.
Priyanka On PM Modi’s ‘Congress Will Snatch Reservation’ Remark
Asked about the PM’s claim that Congress would take away reservation rights to benefit minorities, and that the party would reverse the Supreme Court’s verdict on Ram Temple if voted to power, Priyanka hit out at PM Modi and said he was “using his imagination a lot” in his speeches.
"In the last week or 10 days, I have been noticing that he (Modi) is using his imagination a lot in his speeches. He is not speaking on facts. He does not have the respect for the people of this country to speak based on facts, based on the truth," she said.
"He is saying all sorts of things from we are going to steal people's buffaloes, to us having X-ray machines and going to people's houses and finding their jewels and taking them away. Frankly, if it wasn't the PM saying this, coming from such a dignified, serious post, we would laugh," she said.
Priyanka Gandhi said that "unfortunately, we cannot laugh because it is the PM who is in all seriousness trying to convince the public that these things are true when they are not".
READ | 'Ration Scheme Hai, Not Jobs': Priyanka Gandhi Slams Modi Govt Over 'Rising Unemployment'