New Delhi/patna/ lucknow/kanyakumari: Stepping out to “help mother and brother”, Priyanka Gandhi on Wednesday adopted a proactive role and got more aggressive in targeting the BJP. Eyebrows were raised when she went out of her way to target her cousin Varun, the BJP candidate from Sultanpur.
With her daughter stepping on the gas, Sonia Gandhi also intensified her attack on Mr Modi, as did Rahul. “One individual goes across the country and says he will make India a paradise. You should reject the ambition of that individual,” Mrs Gandhi said on
Wednesday, in a clear reference to Mr Modi while addressing a rally in Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu.
Dismissing as “false propaganda” that the Congress was not concerned about Tamils in Sri Lanka, Sonia Gandhi raised the emotional issue of her husband Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, saying the former PM sacrificed his life “fighting” for them.
Echoing her mother’s views while addressing a rally in Rae Bareli, Priyanka without naming Mr Modi, said, “Some people believe that power should be centered around a few.”
Priyanka clarified that this election had turned into a war between two ideologies and while the Congress wanted the society and the country to remain firmly united, the other parties wanted to create divisions between people on the basis of caste and religion
Taking a jibe at Mr Modi while speaking at Kishanganj in Bihar, Rahul Gandhi said, “Hindustan ko ullu banana bandh karo (Stop fooling the people of India).”
Addressing a rally at Unnao in Uttar Pradesh Mr Gandhi said, “This is a battle of two ideologies one is that of Godse and the other is of Gandhi. It is up to you to decide which one you choose.” He further said that Mr Modi was doling out favours to industrialists and was not bothered about the 40 per cent people who do not get drinking water.
While Sonia Gandhi accused Mr Modi of representing an ideology which is a “dangerous combination of religious fanaticism, power and money”, the Congress vice-president said Mr Modi “claims to know everything... according to him, nobody else contributed in the development of Gujarat except him, and now he will say the same about the entire country”.
While only the next few weeks will tell if the attack on Mr Modi by the triumvirate has come too late in the day, Congress leaders seem somewhat relieved that Mr Modi’s dominance of the airwaves has been somewhat contained.
