The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
‘UP doesn’t need to adopt outsiders’
Priyanka, Rahul slam PM on his ‘Varanasi, UP has adopted me’ line; say state doesn’t need empty promises
A DAY after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s said at an election meeting in in Hardoi that his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi has adopted him, and that as the adopted son of Uttar Pradesh he would help the state develop, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi on Friday said the state does not need outsiders, as it has its own sons and daughters.
Addressing her first rally in the ongoing Assemblyelection,atmaharajganjinraebareli —theloksabhaconstituencyofcongresspresident Sonia Gandhi -- Priyanka asked the crowd: “Does the state need to adopt anyone from outside? Is there no youth here who can lead and usher in development?”
She said, “Aapke saamne do naujawan — Rahulji, Akhileshji — isi mitti ke bane hue hain...unke dil mein UP hai, unki jaan mein UP hai .... Uttar Pradesh ko kisi bahari neta ki zaroorat nahi hai. Yahan ka ek ek naujawan neta ban sakta hai (You have two such youths in Rahul and Akhilesh Yadav before you, who have UP in their heart and mind .... UP doesn’t need outsiders; every youth here can become leaders).”
Sahab Saran of the Congress is contesting from the seat.
Priyanka said that while she was giving medicine to her son who was unwell, she saw Modi on television criticising the state over alleged anarchy and atrocities against women. “Yahan ki mahilaon ke baarey mein baat kar rahe thee pradhan mantriji. Jab bhi aapka zikar karte hain, kabhi kisi ki behan, kisi ki beti, kisi ki maa ka zikar karte hain. Kyon?... Main aurat hoon, aap aurat hain. Hamesha rishte ke saath isse jodne ki zaroorat nahi hai. Aankh mein ankh mila ke baat karein. (The Prime Minister were referring to women of UP. Whenever he refers to you, he talks about someone’s sister, daughter, or mother. Why?... I am a woman, you are women. It is not necessary that women should always be associated with some relationship),” she said.
Questioning development done in Varanasi, she advised Modi to take a lesson from her father, Rajiv Gandhi, on how to develop a constituency while being the Prime Minister. “You have been in power for three years. Ask the people of Varanasi what you have done for them .... The people will tell you what kind of development had taken place in Amethi when Rajiv Gandhi was the PM, and what development can take place when you are Prime Minister,” she said.
Earlier in the day, Priyanka accompanied her brother Rahul to a rally at Rae Bareli Sadar to campaign for party candidate Aditi Singh, daughter of sitting Peace Party MLA Akhilesh Singh. But she had not addressed the crowd; only Rahul had spoken there.
He invoked two Bollywood blockbusters to take a dig at Modi, saying that the PM had promised “achche din” like Shah Rukh Khan in Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge but ended up being the villain Gabbar Singh of Sholay.
“He (Modi) makes relationships wherever he goes. He went to Varanasi and termed Ganga as his mother and said he is the son of Varanasi .... In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, he promised to change Varanasi,” he said. “Modiji, rishtey bolney se nahin, nibhaney sey bante hain (relationships are not developed by only talking but by nurturing them),” the Congress vice-president said.
He said, “In Bihar (elections), he promised to give a special package (to the state. Was it given?... I have a list of things that he had promised for Varanasi — clean Ganga, ghats, ring road, free Wifi, Bhojpuri film city. Modiji, you have not even fulfilled the promises you made to your mother.”