New Delhi: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, in her own inimitable style, on Wednesday, dared PM Modi to contest on issues of governance rather than extraneous matters. While campaigning in the national capital, Priyanka addressed the PM, who has time and again dragged her father into the election campaign. “A Delhi girl is openly challenging you. Contest the last two phases on pressing issues of ‘notebandi’, GST, women’s safety and unfulfilled promises made to the youth.”
She sought to strike an emotional chord with the people during a road show, saying she was born in Delhi and is empathetic towards their aspirations, unlike PM Modi who, she claimed, has been here only for five years. “Modi ji has been in Delhi for five years. I was born in the city. I have seen every by-lane. I will tell you (Modi) what the people of Delhi think. They are tired of your useless talk. You keep yourself confined to your Race Course Road residence,” said Priyanka. She also responded to criticism of her great-grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru by top BJP leaders, including PM Modi.
“They remind me of those children who don’t do their homework and come to school with excuses. When the teacher asks them, they say, ‘Kya karoon, Nehru ji ne mera parcha le liya, chhupa diya (what can I do, Nehru took my work sheet and hid it. What can I do, Indira (Gandhi) made paper planes out of my work sheets,” said the Congress general secretary. Priyanka was perched on the roof of a slow-moving minibus along with former chief minister Sheila Dikshit as she campaigned for the first time in Delhi since she joined politics in January. The road show started in Seelampur, a minority-dominated area, and meandered through a sea of people as they jostled with each other to catch a glimpse.
Hours ahead of the roadshow, Delhi Chief Minister and Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal had said that Priyanka was “wasting her time” campaigning in the national capital. “She (Priyanka Gandhi) is wasting her time, why doesn’t she campaign in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh?’’ Delhi will vote on May 12, in the sixth round of the general elections.
