A day after hinting that she was not averse to taking on Prime Minister in his own parliamentary constituency, Varanasi, Congress general secretary in charge of UP east, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party at a nukkad sabha (street corner meeting) in Ayodhya on Friday, calling it “pro-rich”, “anti-farmer” and against the interests of the armed forces, and appealed to voters to oust the saffron party from power.
Hitting out at Modi for his ‘biryani’ remark. Priyanka said that it was the Prime Minister who went to Pakistan to enjoy `biryani’.
She also accused Modi of ignoring the temple city Varanasi, which is his constituency.
Earlier, during this campaign trip, Priyanka visited the family bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli which have elected party president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
She said the BJP government was helping only the rich and had no money for the poor.
“The government’s focus is only on helping the rich, making the rich, richer. They have money for the businessmen, but not for the poor,” she lamented.
She accused the government of planning to shut down the MNREGA scheme, the mega rural employment guarantee plan launched by Congress-led government.
Pointing out that Modi retained the scheme after coming to power, despite criticising it, Priyanka said funds were not being given to the scheme for six months. “They are giving the money to contractors... they want to close the scheme,” she said.
She recalled the recent Congress announcement that it would launch NYAY, a minimum income guarantee scheme, for the poorest 20 per cent of the population, if it came to power.
The Congress leader also accused the Modi government of trying to destroy democracy and constitutional institutions.
“This government does not have the courage to hear your voice. They do not go to the villages as they will face reality,” she said.
“I have seen the truth in the leaking roofs of the weavers’ houses, in the eyes of the farmer who said that only the rich have a ‘chowkidar’ (watchman),” she said, in an indirect reference to Modi’s `I am a chowkidar too’ campaign.
“These elections are for saving the country and the Constitution,” she said.
In Ayodhya, Priyanka visited Hanuman Garhi temple in Ayodhya, but kept away from the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site.