Congress General Secretary Priyanka Vadra confronted the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA's accusation of "dynasty politics" head-on on Wednesday, arguing that her party’s detractors are simply unable to appreciate "the sacrifices made by our ancestors".
Addressing a rally in Valmiki Nagar, a remote assembly segment within the West Champaran district of Bihar, she also cited the praise offered to her great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, by the newly elected Mayor of New York, lamenting that India’s first Prime Minister was now facing "insults" on his home soil, even after his death.
"We want to serve you. The wealth of the nation belongs to you. Our ancestors fought to get freedom. Many of your forefathers gave up their lives for Independence," said the Raebareli MP, in an attempt to connect with the audience.
"The soil here is soaked in your blood as well as our blood. But those who scream from stages that there is dynasty politics can never understand these sacrifices, including martyrdom (shahadat). This is not parivarvaad (dynastic rule) but our dharma (duty) towards the nation," asserted Vadra, whose father, Rajiv Gandhi, and grandmother, Indira Gandhi, both former prime ministers, were assassinated less than a decade apart.
She further alleged, "From morning till evening, leaders of the BJP remain busy hurling abuses at Nehru, blaming him for all the ills that plague the country. The memory of Nehru was invoked recently by a person who won an election in New York, a major city in America. And here, in Nehru's own country, we see insults heaped on him on a daily basis." The allusion was to Zohran Mamdani, the recently elected Mayor of New York, who had quoted Nehru's famous 'Tryst with Destiny' speech, delivered on the day India gained Independence.
Speaking of "my brother Rahul Gandhi," Vadra angrily responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charge that the Voter Adhikar Yatra, in which she had also briefly participated, was aimed at "protecting infiltrators".
"My brother Rahul Gandhi took out the yatra for you, the common people, whose right to vote is at risk. He has exposed another instance of vote theft in Haryana," claimed Vadra, her speech coinciding with the latest press conference by the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha. She asked: "The Prime Minister says we are working for infiltrators. Do you people see yourselves as infiltrators (ghuspaithiye)?"
Also read: Priyanka Gandhi suggests PM Modi to form ‘Ministry of Insults'
Follow us
