NEW DELHI: Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra launched a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi while addressing a rally at Seemapuri – one of the 12 reserved constituencies of Delhi – stating that while her father, former PM Rajiv Gandhi, personally visited the area when it was infested with a disease, did PM Modi ever visit them?
“When this area was infested with Haija (cholera), (then) PM Rajiv Gandhi visited you personally. Did Modi ever visit this area, have you ever seen him in real life?” she questioned.
Addressing a rally in Seemapuri’s Muslim-majority area, where people cheered and clapped at her fierce attacks on both AAP and BJP, Priyanka said, “Modi kills dissent” and further lashed out at PM for “distorting and misinterpreting her mother’s remarks about President Droupadi Murmu”. “It was like an elderly woman expressing sympathy for another elderly woman, but Modi tried to make an election issue out of it,” said Gandhi while also invoking the name of activist-politician “Santosh Koli” who hailed from Seemapuri, stating, “Learn to fight for your rights and family.”
In 2020, AAP’s Rajendra Pal Gautam defeated the NDA candidate, securing 65.82% of the votes, while the NDA’s Lok Jan Shakti Party candidate trailed with 24.04% votes. Congress’s Veer Singh Dhingan managed 5.7% of the votes in 2020. However, Gandhi is counting on her party candidate Rajesh Lilothia, who will contest against AAP’s Veer Singh Dhingan and BJP’s Kumari Rinku.
“Your streets are waterlogged, full of garbage. You have no clean water to drink while Modi and Kejriwal indulge in a blame game that’s keeping Delhi from development. Recently at a rally on Friday, Modi promised the development of Dwarka. What kept him from doing it for the past 10 years?” she said.
“Kejriwal calls himself imandar (honest) and others a thief. He did a liquor scam. Modi calls himself imandar and sold the country’s assets to Adani. What guarantee did you get? Did he bring black money back? Is there any job security? He announced demonetisation and asked us to show our patriotism. During Covid-19, people died. Modi visited different countries, but did he visit you?” she said.
Launching an attack on Kejriwal for maligning former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit’s image over the security of women, she questioned, “It has been 10 years of AAP, why are women still feeling unsafe in Delhi?”
She also criticised Modi and Kejriwal for squandering away public money. “Modi targets Kejriwal over Sheesh Mahal. But he himself spent over Rs 16,000 crore on his own Raj Mahal during Covid. What was the need to spend? There was already a good Parliament building, but he spent it anyway. It was your money. Look at their preferences,” she said, while also criticising the recent budget, stating that the budget has nothing to address rising prices. In contrast, she highlighted the achievements of Congress govts in states like Karnataka, Himachal Pradesh, and Rajasthan, noting their efforts to waive farmers’ loans, provide health coverage, and support women with financial assistance. “Did AAP fulfill its promise of giving Rs 1,000 to women in Punjab?” she asked.
