lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Mar 19, 2019 09:15 IST

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday said she had seen her family make several sacrifices for the country, including the assassination of her father former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi and that neither she nor brother and Congress president Rahul Gandhi were interested in power.

“Neither my brother Rahul Gandhi nor I have any interest in ‘satta’ (political power),” she said while speaking at Sitamarhi in Bhadohi district during a halt in her 140 km long three-day Prayagraj-Varanasi Ganga Yatra on a steamer.

She said the upcoming polls were not just a plain ‘chunav’ (election) but ‘chunauti’ (challenge) for the electorate to get rid of a government which was not interested in addressing public woes.

Also read: Lok Sabha Elections 2019: On boat yatra, Priyanka Gandhi jabs PM Modi’s ‘Main bhi Chowkidaar’ campaign

“The purpose of my three-day journey is not to attain power nor form a Congress government, but to save the country and the constitution, as both are in danger.”

Priyanka said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had failed to address problems of farmers, the unemployed and women’s safety among a host of other issues.

“Although the present prime minister claimed he was very powerful and had a 56-inch chest, he could not address woes of farmers, the unemployed, women’s safety, development of the country and other issues successfully,” the Congress general secretary said.

Bhadohi was the carpet manufacturing belt of India but the imposition of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) had caused 60% weavers to close their businesses, she claimed.

Priiyanka also said that under the BJP government there is a danger to freedom of expression.

“The Allahabad University students who I met on a steamer (during the yatra) said that they were deprived of freedom of expression under this government as their voice was suppressed whenever they raised their problems,” she said.

Also read: Priyanka Gandhi starts Ganga Yatra with prayers and boat ride

The Congress general secretary said the PM coined the slogan ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’, but the it was the welfare of only a handful that was ensured.

Earlier, Bahraich MP Savitri Bai Phule, who joined the Congress, said she had left the BJP because the PM only knew how to tell lies.

During the function, carpet traders presented a carpet to the Congress leader. Local office bearers of the party gifted a copy of Valmiki Ramayan to her.