‘Thought no one noticed’: Priyanka Gandhi on starting debut speech with ‘my sisters’

New Delhi: Congress’s Priyanka Gandhi Vadra delivered an eight-minute speech in Gujarat, her first after entering politics in January in 2019.

There was one little detail that most people missed out was that Priyanka Gandhi started her address with “meri behnon aur mere bhaiyo” (my sisters and brothers). She had flipped the usual formulation in which men are mentioned first, mostly as ‘my brothers and sisters’.

On Thursday morning, Congress MP from Silchar, Assam Sushmita Dev tweeted a video clip of Priyanka Gandhi’s speech. Dev pointed out how Priyanka Gandhi reversed the order of address from “bhaiyon aur behnon” (brothers and sisters) to “meri behnon aur mere bhaiyon” (my sisters and my brothers).

“The speech of @priyankagandhi ji in Gujarat stood out for many reasons. I loved the fact that in her address she changed the order most people follow by referring to women before men i.e. behnon aur bhaiyon & not the other way around,” Dev wrote on Twitter.

Priyanka Gandhi retweeted Dev’s post with comment: “…and I thought no one noticed!!”.

In her speech at Modi’s home state, Priyanka launched a stinging attack on the BJP-led government at the Centre. "Your vote is your weapon. Make the right decision, ask the right questions," she said in the rally in Ahmedabad. The Congress is trying to impress women voters with promises like 33 per cent reservation in parliament.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was inducted in the Congress weeks after Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav announced an alliance in Uttar Pradesh for Lok Sabha polls. She and Jyotiraditya Scindia have been tasked to revive the party in the state. She is the in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh for the Congress.