Ghaziabad: Standing atop an SUV and posing liberally for selfies, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday launched an acerbic attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and questioned him on what he had achieved in the last five years.
Meandering through narrow lanes of Ghaziabad constituency, adjoining the national capital, Ms Vadra alleged that Mr Modi is anti-poor and anti-farmer.
“PM keeps asking what did Jawaharlal Nehru do, what did Indira Gandhi do. What did you do in the past five years?” said Ms Vadra, questioning Mr Modi on his performance.
“They should respect the father of the Opposition party,” she said.
As her cavalcade travelled through the industrial city, Ms Vadra said, “PM Modi has travelled the world, but in five years he has not for once visited a family in his constituency and asked how they have been. The PM hugs all world leaders. Have you ever seen him hug a poor family in Varanasi?”
She hit out at the Prime Minister for waiving off a huge amount of sum for the wealthy but not doing enough for the poor, who will benefit from the Congress’ proposed minimum income scheme.
Highlighting issues like farm distress and curbs on free speech, the Congress’ star campaigner said, “It is not democracy when you are not allowed to speak, when the farmer is in distress.”
Asking people to vote cautiously, she said, “Chose the party that will work for you. Read the Congress manifesto. Ask what is in store for me. We asked shopkeepers, farmers and the young people what they want. After that, we came up with the manifesto.”
”Good governance is your right, no leader should act like he is doing you a favour,” she said.
Showcasing key poll promises of the Congress, Ms Vadra said, “All citizens have the right to education, the right to succeed. The Congress wants to work for you. We want to waive off farmers’ loans, provide minimum income guarantee.”
Ghaziabad voters will vote in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections on May 11. Congress’ Dolly Sharma is pitted against Suresh Bansal of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance candidate and General Singh is the BJP nominee.
Clad in a purple sari, Ms Vadra, targeted the BJP over the faulty implementation of the Goods and Services Tax saying that with GST,the government broke the backs of small traders. “Ironically, they were the ones who had supported him”.
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