Fatehpur/Hamirpur (UP) | Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday urged voters to help end the “politics of divisiveness and negativity” and teach a lesson to the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections.
“Change politics not only of your area or for your needs, but for your future generations and to save the country, as the country is in danger,” she said at an election meeting at Fatehpur, which goes to polls on May 6.
“Remove the politics of divisiveness and negativity, and usher in politics which speaks about you, your grievances and makes efforts to redress them,” the Congress general secretary said.
In democracy, there is nothing bigger than the power of the people, Priyanka Gandhi, who is in charge of eastern UP for her party, said.
Gandhi asked voters not to allow a person who speaks lies and does not work for you” to succeed.
“The politics of the BJP is no longer the politics at the grass roots level. It has no connection with the people and it is just in the air. Teach them a lesson, she said.
The reality of their politics is that farmers, youngsters, women and workers feel exploited, she said, urging people to wake up .
Once you are awake, these people will not be able to destroy the country,” she said.
She accused the BJP of trying to weaken democracy and claimed that people in Uttar Pradesh have told her that they are beaten up for raising their voices.
I met a woman teacher who had participated in a protest since she was not getting her salary. She was beaten up, sent to jail and even booked under the NSA (National Security Act), she said.
Imagine the NSA being slapped on a woman teacher only because she was demanding her salary,” she said.
“I met youngsters in Varanasi and they told me that when they protested, they were beaten up, she said.
This is democracy. In democracy, when the public protests or demands its rights, those in power should be happy, as the public is saying something, she added.
But the BJP government thinks it is doing the people a favour when it does any work for them. They do not know that it is you who made them, she said.
Targeting the prime minister and the BJP, she said, “They are obsessed and keep talking about my family. Fifty per cent of their election speeches cover what Nehruji had done, what Indira Gandhi had done. But, they will not tell that what they have done in the past five years.”
She also jibed the prime minister saying he has been unable to visit even a single village in his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi due to his preoccupation with foreign tours.
“Prime Minister Modi has been more on foreign tours. He does not have the time to go to the people. In the five years, Modi has not gone to a single village in Varanasi. They have policies which allow only the big industrialists to grow.”
Priyanka Gandhi also alleged that the BJP government at the Centre has waived the loans of the industrialists, but when it comes to waive the loans of the farmers, the government says it does not have the funds.
Later, she addressed a public meeting in Hamirpur in the state’s backward region of Bundelkhand.
Hamirpur goes to poll on April 29 in the fourth phase of elections.
“The current government is making policies against you. It is ignoring the poor, farmers and women, and is bothered only about the power,” she said.
She accused the BJP leaders of merely harping on Pakistan and the the country’s martyrs.
“What have you done in the past five years, what has happened to the promises made five years back?” she asked the BJP.
“Everyone respects a martyr, and Bundelkhand is the land of martyrs. There is not a single person in Bundelkhand who does not pay respect to the martyrs. All the countrymen are patriotic,” she said.
She urged people to elect a government which has a feeling of service towards them.
“Elect a government, a leader who is your ‘hamdard’ (sympathiser),” she said.
She praised her brother Rahul Gandhi.
“He tries to understand the feelings of the people, hears them and makes an effort to resolve their problems after listening to them them,” she added.
Priyanka Gandhi also held a roadshow in Mahoba, another district in Bundelkhand, wading through a crowd of enthusiastic Congress workers and supporters who lined up on both sides of the road and showered petals on her vehicle.
At one place, she got down from her vehicle and mingled with the people.
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