lok-sabha-elections

Updated: Mar 14, 2019 16:06 IST

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra delivered an eight-minute speech in Gujarat, her first after entering electoral politics in January this year. The speech, which saw her attempting to steer the political discourse to bread and butter issues ahead of the national elections, saw her launch a sharp attack at the government.

But there was one little detail that most people appeared to have missed out. Priyanka Gandhi had started her address with “meri behnon aur mere bhaiyo” (my sisters and brothers). She had flipped the usual formulation in which men are mentioned first, mostly as ‘my brothers and sisters’.

On Thursday morning, Congress MP from Silchar, Assam Sushmita Dev tweeted a video clip of Priyanka Gandhi’s speech. Dev pointed out how Priyanka Gandhi reversed the order of address from “bhaiyon aur behnon” (brothers and sisters) to “meri behnon aur mere bhaiyon” (my sisters and my brothers).

“The speech of @priyankagandhi ji in Gujarat stood out for many reasons. I loved the fact that in her address she changed the order most people follow by referring to women before men i.e. behnon aur bhaiyon & not the other way around,” Dev wrote on Twitter.

Priyanka Gandhi retweeted Dev’s post with comment: “…and I thought no one noticed!!”.

In her speech at Gandhinagar in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state, Priyanka Gandhi launched a stinging attack on the BJP-led government at the Centre. She said the government was trying to distract people’s attention over “needless issues” ahead of the Lok Sabha election.