Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday accused the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government of forming policies to benefit top industrialists instead of the masses. She urged those gathered at a party rally in Fatehpur in Uttar Pradesh to vote out “the politics of divisiveness and negativity”.
The party’s Uttar Pradesh (East) General Secretary claimed that Modi had not visited a single village in his constituency of Varanasi after being voted to power. “Policies are being tailored to benefit big industrialists and not for the common man,” she said. “When I went to Varanasi, I came to know the prime minister has not visited any village till date. This government has snatched away the employment opportunities from our youth and has shut down the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act scheme.”
Vadra urged voters to help end the politics of divisiveness and negativity and teach the BJP a lesson in the elections, PTI reported. “Change politics not only of your area or for your needs, but for your future generations and to save the country, as the country is in danger,” she said. “Remove the politics of divisiveness and negativity, and usher in politics which speaks about you, your grievances and makes efforts to redress them.”
Gandhi claimed the politics of the BJP no longer had a connection with the people. “The politics of the BJP is no longer the politics at the grass roots level.” She also accused the BJP of trying to weaken democracy and claimed that people in Uttar Pradesh told her that they were beaten up for raising their voices.
“In democracy, when the public protests or demands its rights, those in power should be happy, as the public is saying something,” she said. “But the BJP government thinks it is doing the people a favour when it does any work for them. They do not know that it is you who made them.”
She took a jibe at Modi’s interview with actor Akshay Kumar that aired on Wednesday morning. “To understand the problems of people, one needs to visit them,” Vadra said. “But our PM is busy with his foreign trips and interviews with celebrities.”
Vadra targeted Modi and the BJP for criticising her family. “They are obsessed and keep talking about my family,” she said. “Fifty per cent of their election speeches cover what Nehruji had done, what Indira Gandhi had done. But, they will not tell that what they have done in the past five years.”
Fatehpur is scheduled to go to the polls on May 6.
Later at a rally in Banda on Wednesday, Vadra described Modi as a “Pradhan Prachar Mantri” (prime propaganda minister). She accused the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party of “wasting drinking water” in the arid region to clean roads to welcome Modi for a rally scheduled in the area on Thursday. “This is happening when the entire Bundelkhand, the men and women living there, school going children, crops, birds and animals are facing the terror of drought,” she said.
Vadra shared a video of the purported road cleaning. She tweeted, “Is he [Modi] a ‘chowkidar’ (watchman) or a ‘shahnshah’ (emperor) coming from Delhi.”
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