Priyanka reiterated that she wanted to campaign only in Amethi and Rae Bareli
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. (Photo: File / PTI)
New Delhi: In a bid to end all speculation that her joining politics and contesting the Lok Sabha polls would put a questionmark on her brother Rahul Gandhi’s abilities, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made it clear Monday that it was her own decision not to contest, and insisted if she did want to contest, she would get full support from her entire family.
The BJP, in a dig at the Congress’ first family, said it wished the Congress fielded Priyanka against Narendra Modi in Varanasi as the country needed the “myth” around her to be “exploded.” The party said the Congress was just “a crowd around a family,” that saw no option “but her, after Rahul Gandhi did not click.”
On Monday morning, Priyanka issued a rare statement to the media after a report claimed she was keen to be the Congress’ candidate in Varanasi, saying: “My decision to not contest is personal. I will only change it when I feel from within that I should."
Priyanka, 42, reiterated her earlier stand that she wanted to campaign only in Amethi, from where brother Rahul is standing, and in Rae Bareli, from where mother Sonia, Congress president, is contesting. "My brother, mother and husband (Robert Vadra) would wholeheartedly support me if I ever wanted to (contest)," she said.
Priyanka Gandhi admitted on Monday that her brother Rahul Gandhi had on several occasions asked her to take the electoral plunge but indicated that she was not so inclined. She then went on to add: "This certainly is my own personal decision and I will change it only when I feel from within me that I should."
A report earlier claimed that the Congress’ decision on who to field in Varanasi against Narendra Modi had been delayed, with the part finally fielding local MLA Ajay Rai from the holy city. Congress spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala said: "I don’t think anybody can prevent her, and nobody will prevent her from enlarging her role as and when she chooses to play a larger political role in the Indian political spectrum."
Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley said the "Gandhis are under siege", and that the situation today was akin to what had happened in the 1977 polls, as the family charisma had faded away and economic populism did not work.
"The real solution to the problem is to make the Congress a more structured party. The Congress Party solution is, if one incumbent in the family fails, the alternative can only be another member of the family," Mr Jaitley wrote in his blog.
Another senior BJP leader, Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, said: "Priyanka Gandhi should have contested from Varanasi. Her husband Robert Vadra should have contested from Vadodara and other members of the Congress’ family of maladministration, who have run away from elections, should also have contested."
( Source : dc correspondent )
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