News Analysis India

Tag: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

  • ‘Priyanka Gandhi should stay put in UP despite worst ever poll performance’ 

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: With just two seats and a 2 per cent vote share, the Congress fell to its lowest ever tally in Uttar Pradesh under Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as general secretary in charge of the state. Her high voltage campaign and decision to give 40 per cent tickets to women candidates, failed to make a mark but party leaders say she should continue focusing on the state and stay put in order to revive the party.        

    Priyanka addressed over 160 rallies and over 40 roadshows in UP but she started focusing on the state towards the fag end of elections. A senior party leader said that if she would have started touring and focusing on UP a year and a half back, things would have been a little different.

    She should keep focusing on UP and continue her connection with people and that will help the party in 2024,  noted a Congress Rajya Sabha member.

    ALSO READ | Congress campaign focussed on women, youth couldn’t arrest its slide in UP

    “It is very disheartening that we have come to 2 per cent vote share in a state we ruled for several years but Priyanka should continue her work on the ground and focus on the state. She should make Lucknow as her base and stay here rather than making episodic visits ahead of elections,” said a senior UP Congress leader.

    There was no denial that the party and Priyanka herself knew the party’s fate in assembly elections and kept speaking that irrespective of results, she will stay put in the state. “We have just started the fight and we have to keep going with energy and strength,” she told party workers, a day before the results.

    Like brother Rahul Gandhi, many leaders questioned her choice of her core team which made many senior UP leaders feel insulted and uncomfortable. Besides several senior leaders, Priyanka’s close aide Lalithesh Tripathi, RPN Singh, Jitender Prasada, and Anu Tandon left the party in the run-up to the assembly elections.

    Her personal secretary Sandeep Singh and UP Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lalu have been blamed for giving her ground feedback that was far from true.

    “She needs to get a good team who have knowledge about the UP and understand the state. It is a tough task to revive the Congress as the party base has completely eroded and the election trends show that our loyal voters have also shifted this time,” said a former union minister. 

  • Phase-7 of UP Polls 2022: Battle lines drawn between Modi’s Kashi, Akhilesh’s Azamgarh

    Express News Service

    VARANASI: As the poll juggernaut enters the seventh gate of UP proverbial ‘Chakrvyuh’ comprising nine districts of Purvanchal to witness the final assault on Monday, March 7, the stage is set with the Modi-Yogi combination ready to save the fort for the BJP on one side and Akhilesh Yadav, leading the Samajwadi Party from the front, on the other. Also, Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s Congress are out to prove they are no pushovers.

    In the last leg, the battle is likely to get fiercest with the pride of Varanasi, the Modi bastion and Azamgarh, the stronghold of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh Yadav, at stake.

    Moreover, the fight is believed to be straight between the BJP and SP on maximum seats barring a few where the BSP is posing a challenge to the main players.

    Around 613 candidates are in the fray spread across nine districts comprising Varanasi, Chandauli, Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Ghazipur, Mau, Mirzapur, Bhadohi and Sonbhadra, in the final phase of the 7-phased UP polls.

    In the last phase, if ruling BJP has the tough task of sustaining its dominance besides making forays into so far unexplored territories, the main opposition, SP chief  Akhilesh Yadav faces the challenge of not only defending his stronghold in Azamgarh but also expanding its influence across the region. In a way, both BJP and SP will depend on their respective allies’ performance to sail through in this region.

    Of the 54 constituencies that go to polls on Monday, 11 seats are reserved for Scheduled Castes and two for Scheduled Tribes which fall in Sonbhadra.

    In the 2017 assembly elections, 29 of these 54 seats were won by the BJP and seven by its allies– Apna Dal (S) and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP). The SP was victorious on 11 seats and six had gone to BSP. NISHAD had won one seat of Gyanpur in Bhadohi. Congress had failed to open an account in this phase in 2017.

    However, this time the SBSP is contesting as SP ally with its influence over Rajbhar voters across a dozen and a half seats in Ghazipur, Mau, Varanasi, Chanduali and pockets in Mirzapur.

    Of the 11 reserved seats, BJP had won seven, SP three, Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had won one seat. However, both the ST seats had gone to the BJP and its ally Apna al (S) in 2017.

    In the last phase of the battle, BJP is depending on the charisma of PM Narendra Modi as the sole influencer in the region. Taking the command of the BJP campaign in his hands, PM Modi camped in Varanasi, his parliamentary constituency, for 29 hours to make the equations favourable for the BJP as its sitting MLAs had been facing strong anti-incumbency not only in Varanasi but in adjoining districts as well.

    It is believed that Modi’s presence in Varanasi on poll eve might have turned the situation in BJP’s favour owing to PM’s popularity and his mass connect.

    Besides, the BJP has also been pinning its hopes on the beneficiaries of the welfare schemes and the women voters among whom the law and order issue is seen to have a clear resonance.

    2017 outstanding performance of the BJP in the region was well supported by allies — Apna Dal (S) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP). They had played a big role in ensuring BJP’s expansion in this belt through the support of Kurmi and the Rajbhars.

    The Nishad party, which had contested independently in 2017 had won one seat. This outfit representing the boatmen community present in considerable chunks across the eastern UP is now with the BJP and has three candidates in the seventh phase.

    On the other, SBSP, in alliance with the SP, is set to benefit the main opposition party in its final assault. SBSP, led by OP Rajbhar, is contesting on 17 seats across the state of which eight are at stake in the final phase. The SP leadership is depending upon the Rajbhar vote to combine with the strong presence of Yadav-OBC in this region to get an edge over the BJP.

    SP may also poach upon BJP’s Kurmi vote bank which had shifted to it in 2017 after its alliance with Apna Dal (S) led by Anupriya Patel, younger daughter of a tall Kurmi leader of the region Sonelal Patel. This time, Akhilesh Yadav has made the other faction — Apna Dal (K) — led by Anupriya’s mother Krishna Patel, part of his rainbow alliance.

    While Apna Dal (S) is contesting four seats, the other faction is contesting five seats in alliance with the SP in the final phase.

    Moreover, with renovated and revamped Kashi Vishwanath Dham and the upcoming Ram temple in Ayodhya, BJP will also hope to capitalise on the Hindutva factor beyond the caste fault lines in the last phase. PM Modi, during his stay in Varanasi on March 4 and 5, gave a push to the narrative of Hindutva through his gestures without even speaking a single word over it in his discourse.

    In Jaunpur, Ghazipur and Chanduli, which also fall in the Varanasi division, the BJP had got partial success despite the sweeping saffron wave in 2017. It had won four of the nine Jaunpur seats, three of the seven Ghazipur seats and four of the five Chanduli seats. SP had won three seats in Jaunpur, two in Ghazipur and one in Chandauli.

    In Azamgarh, which has the dominant Muslim-Yadav factor, BJP could bag just one of 10 assembly segments in 2017 election. Azamgarh has been one of the strongest fortress of the SP which had won five of the 10 constituencies in 2017. Four had gone to the BSP. In 2012, the BJP was nowhere in the scene. The SP had then won nine and BSP one in Azamgarh.

    In neighbouring Mau, the bastion of mafia don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari who is the sitting MLA and currently in jail, eyes will set on his son Abbas Ansari who is contesting on SBSP ticket from Mau Sadar.

    The SP hopes that along with Rajbhar factor and Ansaris’ clout, Mau will be regained. In 2017, the BJP had won three of the four seats in the district.

    Phase -7

    Total Seats – 54; Total districts- 09; Total candidates- 613; Total electorate- 2.05 crore; Total Districts-10: Varanasi, Chandauli, Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Ghazipur, Mau, Mirzapur, Bhadohi and Sonbhadra

    2017 Results:

    Varanasi: 09: BJP: 07; Apna Dal (S): 01; SBSP: 01Chandauli: 04: BJP: 03; SP: 01Jaunpur: 09: BJP: 04; Apna Dal (S): 01; SP: 03: BSP: 01Azamgarh: 10: BJP: 01; SP: 05; BSP: 04Ghazipur: 07: BJP: 03; SBSP: 02; SP: 02Mau: 04: BJP: 03; BSP: 01Mirzapur: 05: BJP: 04; AD(S): 01Bhadohi: 03: BJP: 02; NISAHD: 01Sonbhadra: 04: BJP: 03; Apna Dal(S): 01

  • Non-Congress govts kept UP backward, forced people to migrate: Rahul in Amethi

    By PTI

    AMETHI: Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday blamed successive governments of rival parties in Uttar Pradesh for its economic backwardness, forcing people to migrate to other states as labourers.

    Taking a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul Gandhi said he has been working only for the billionaires, who do not give employment.

    Coming together for a joint rally at Kali Maidan in Amethi, which has long been the pocket borough of the party till Rahul Gandhi lost it to Smriti Irani in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the leaders asked people to vote for their own good and children, and not on emotional issues of caste and religion.

    “Uttar Pradesh doesn’t lack anything and it can leave all other states behind. You go to Punjab, Maharashtra and other states to work as labourers in search of livelihood. Why can’t you get it here,” Rahul Gandhi asked.

    “It’s because for years you elected the Samajwadi Party, BJP and the BSP. All these made wrong promises one after the other and stole money from you,” he added, apparently responding to allegation by the rivals, who have been blaming the Congress for people’s migration.

    Accusing PM Modi of helping only big industrialists, he said the billionaires do not give employment.

    “It is small and medium traders and farmers who generate employment and this section, which is the backbone of job givers, has been broken,” he said, adding that in these circumstances there will not be any job for the youth, even for those with proper education.

    Saying that the PM Modi had promised two crore jobs to the youth, he asked, “Why is he not speaking about it in electioneering this time?” People are well aware of his “lies” now, said the former Congress president.

    Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the voters will have to make up their mind whether they want politics of development or the one that entangles them in a “fake web of religion and caste”.

    Referring to her visit to a locality in Lucknow recently, the Congress leader said she there met some children, who were qualified but unemployed.

    “Have you brought up your children so that they do not have any future and that they continue to get a sack of foodgrain and remain dependent on it. This is a conspiracy of these political parties to keep you poor, keep your stomachs empty so that your emotions could be exploited by them,” the Congress leader alleged.

    This is the government of the rich and there is no hearing of the poor, she alleged. “When there is harassment, neither Akhilesh Yadav nor Mayawati come out of their homes, leave alone Yogi and Modi.

    They make the father of an accused stand with them on the dais,” she said referring to the Lakhimpur Kheri violence. “Their minister’s son killed farmers. Change these circumstances,” she said, stressing that people should tell parties either to work for development or leave.

    Eight people, including four farmers, were killed in the violence last October. The farmers were mowed down by cars allegedly carrying by BJP workers. Union minister Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish was arrested in the case.

    The Congress leaders also spoke about the development and infrastructure building that took place in Amethi during the Congress-led UPA government in the past.

    Addressing another election meeting, Rahul Gandhi said his Rahul Gandhi said his relationship with Amethi is not political but a personal one. “Whatever the people of Amethi would want me to do, I am ready for it,” he said.

    The Congress leader said Prime Minister Modi says that nothing has been done in the country in the past 70 years.

    “But who had setup up the IIT, BHEL, HAL and the network of national highways,” he asked, alleging that like Air India, BHEL and HAL will be “sold”.

    “I wanted to bring a food park, Hindustan paper mill here. Now, you tell me what Amethi has got in the past five years,” he asked. “The Congress is the party of people. People should remember that UP has to be changed without which the country cannot be changed,” he added.

    The Amethi Lok Sabha constituency had been represented by Rajiv Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi in the past.

    Rahul Gandhi won from here in 2009 and was elected to the Lok Sabha from here in 2014. However, he lost to Union minister Smriti Irani in the 2019 general election. The joint rally by the brother-sister duo came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a rally here.

    Rahul Gandhi addressed the second election meeting alone as Priyanka Gandhi had gone to another election meeting in Rampur Khas. Five Assembly seats in the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency will go to vote in the fifth phase of the UP Assembly polls on February 27. The Congress was wiped out in the 2017 state polls in Amethi.

  • Priyanka Gandhi Vadra condemns ‘repression’ of candidates for Rail NTPC, Level 2 exams

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday condemned the “repression” of candidates for Non-Technical Popular Categories (RRB NTPC) and the Level 2 exams and urged the government to find a solution to their problems through dialogue.

    She also appealed to protesting job aspirants to keep walking on the path of ‘satyagraha’ in a peaceful manner, saying there is a lot of power in it.

    “No amount of condemnation is enough for the repression of the youth associated with Railway NTPC and Group D examinations,” the Congress general secretary said in a tweet in Hindi.

    “The government should immediately talk to the youth associated with both the examinations and solve their problems,” she said.

    ALSO READ: On day 3 of stir over Railways exam, aspirants set train on fire in Gaya

    The Congress leader added that the government should put a stop to the action of entering the hostels of students for carrying out searches and damaging property.

    The arrested students should be released, she demanded, adding that the order barring aspirants from recruitment for protesting should be withdrawn.

    The national transporter on Tuesday said that railway job aspirants found involved in vandalism and unlawful activities while protesting will be barred from ever getting recruited in the railways.

    Candidates went on a rampage in a couple of states over the alleged irregularities in a recruitment exam by the Railways.

    A train was set on fire and demonstrations were staged at a couple of stations on Wednesday, marking the third day of unrest in Bihar over the issue.

    Earlier in the day, the railways suspended the Non-Technical Popular Categories (RRB NTPC) and the Level 2 exams after reports of vandalism by job aspirants from different parts of the country came to light.

    It has also formed a high-level committee to examine the grievances of those who have passed the exams under different railway recruitment boards and those who have failed.

    The protesting candidates are opposing the Railways’ decision to hold the exam in two stages, claiming the second stage for final selection is tantamount to “cheating” those who appeared and cleared the first stage of the RRB-NTPC for the computer-based test which was released on January 15.

  • Priyanka says Instagram accounts of her children hacked, asks ‘does govt have no other work?’

    By PTI

    LUCKNOW: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday alleged that her children’s Instagram accounts have been hacked.

    “Leave phone tapping, Instagram account of my children have also been hacked,” Priyanka told reporters when asked about allegations of phone tapping of opposition leaders by the government.

    “Does the government have no other work?” she asked.

    The Congress leader made the allegation two days after Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of getting his telephones tapped and listening to the recordings of his conversations every evening.

    Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has two children – Miraya Vadra, 18, and Raihan Vadra, 20.

    Gandhi also claimed that her ‘Ladki hoon, lad sakti hoon’ (I’m a girl and can fight) campaign has forced Prime Minister Narendra Modi to address a women’s meeting in Prayagraj.

    “Due to ‘Ladki hoon, Lad sakti hoon’ campaign of Congress, PM has to work for women. PM has bowed before the women power. This is a victory of women of Uttar Pradesh,” she said.

  • Only PM Modi’s friends progressed under BJP rule: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

    By PTI

    AMETHI: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra here on Saturday urged people to oust the BJP from power as she alleged that under its rule, only PM Narendra Modi’s industrialist friends have progressed while they suffered.

    She also slammed the government over the coronavirus management, saying people were left stranded across the country and her party was not allowed to bring life-saving oxygen from Congress-ruled Chhattisgarh.

    The Congress leader alleged that many public sector firms set by Congress governments in the past are being “sold” to PM Modi’s big friends.

    “During the BJP government, only prime minister’s industrialist friends have progressed. It is only they who are flourishing and you are suffering. So, I am requesting you to change this government,” she said addressing a public meeting during her party’s six-km-long “BJP Bhagao, Mahangai Hatao” padyatra from Jagdishpur to Harimau here.

    The Congress leader alleged that in the past over seven-year rule of the BJP-led government at the Centre, only lies were told.

    On the coronavirus pandemic, she said, “A sudden lockdown was imposed and the people of Amethi were left stranded across the country. At that time we remained connected, day and night, with the people of Amethi and Rae Bareli through phone. Everyone was crying to go home.”

    Targeting Union minister and Amethi Lok Sabha MP Smriti Irani, the Congress general secretary asked, “Where was the BJP then, where was the MP?” “During the second wave, we were sending oxygen trucks from Chhattisgarh but these were not allowed to come. Then we said the Congress will not take credit, will not even put up banners. It was with great difficulty that cylinders reached Rae Bareli,” she said.

    She added that her party’s proposal of ferrying stranded people was was also turned down.

    She also attacked the government over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, which had left eight people, including four farmers, dead.

  • 2022 UP elections: Congress to entrust poll role to party leaders from other states

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Congress general secretary and party’s UP in-charge Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is set to deploy senior party leaders and MLAs from other states entrusting them with responsibilities of different Assembly segments in the upcoming Assembly polls in the state. They will be required to stay in the poll-bound state till the elections.

    As per the highly placed sources in Congress, Priyanka held a meeting with leaders of Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar in Delhi on Thursday. It was transpired that those leaders will be given assembly-wise responsibility during UP polls. President of UP Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) Ajay Kumar Lallu was also present in the high-level meeting.

    Significantly, the Congress general secretary has been leaving no stone unturned to improve her party’s performance in the upcoming electoral battle by reviving it at the grass-root level.

    ALSO READ | 2022 UP polls: Priyanka releases ‘pink manifesto’ for women, pledges tax benefits, cheaper loan

    Those privy to the meeting claimed that there was enthusiasm among the MLAs and party leaders in the meeting as the country were looking at the Congress party in UP. An MLA from Chhattisgarh claimed that the lawmakers from the state will put in their 100 per cent to install the Congress government in UP after the 2022 assembly elections.

    In fact, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel has been appointed the party’s poll observer for Uttar Pradesh.

    As per the party sources, the Chhattisgarh MLAs have been called to Lucknow on December 15 to distribute the different assembly constituencies to them. Those who would be roped in with responsibility of different assembly segments would be required to stay put in Uttar Pradesh for the next two and a half months, said the party sources.

    UPCC chief Ajay Kumar Lallu said that that a meeting of observers was also held. He claimed that owing to the diligence of Priyanka Gandhi who was working on the ground, a palpable change in favour of Congress was now visible in UP. He added that in the recent past, Priyanka had been taking to the streets to raise the issues of the general public vociferously and also of those who had been suffering under the Yogi government. Congress would form the government in the state, he exuded confidence.

    According to sources, the Congress leaders from other states will be leaving for Uttar Pradesh after December 14 and will be there till the elections.

  • 2022 UP polls: Priyanka releases ‘pink manifesto’ for women, pledges tax benefits, cheaper loan

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday released the women-centric ‘pink manifesto’ of her party for the 2022 assembly polls.

    In fact, Congress is the only party to have released a women-centric manifesto of its kind in the electoral history of the country. Asserting that the Congress announced 40 per cent party tickets to women candidates to make their empowerment a reality on the ground instead of letting it confined to papers, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that it was imperative to make womena part of politics in the true sense.

    She maintained that Congress was the only party to have given the first woman Prime Minister in Indira Gandhi to this country and Sucheta Kriplani as the first woman CM. “Our country had a woman PM when other nations had very low women representation in politics the world over,” said Priyanka.

    Sharing details of the manifesto, the Congress general secretary said that her party wanted to create an environment where shackles could be broken with the opinion of women and their full participation in politics and society could be ensured so as to end their exploitation.

    “As of date, less than 14 per cent of representatives in Lok Sabha and state assemblies are women,” added the Congress leader. 

    On being asked if she wanted to change the flavour of the UP political landscape which was dominated by caste and religion, Priyanka reiterated that her party wanted to change the political status of women by empowering them genuinely. When asked if her party would follow the suit in other poll-bound states as well, Priyanka evaded the question by saying that she was UP-in-charge and only responsible for Uttar Pradesh.

    The Congress general secretary clarified that her party would come out with overall manifesto soon.

    Key features of Congress ‘pink manifesto’:

    40% reservation for women candidates
    The special quota for women in jobs in male-dominated departments like transport
    Tax benefits to organizations having women as 50 per cent of the workforce 
    Cheaper loans for women self-help groups
    District-level helpline for women to seek assistance against sexual assault, domestic violence and distress.
    Hostels for working women with modern amenities in 25 big cities of state
    Child care homes in all government offices
    Special employment exchange for women
    Inclusion of sex education, child marriage, reproductive rights of women in the syllabus for girls above 14 
    Three gas cylinders for every household per year
    Bring law against cops who do not register complaints of rape and violence against women
    Fee treatment up to Rs 10 lakh for women
     

  • Akhilesh Yadav active during election time only: Priyanka Gandhi

    By PTI

    MORADABAD (UP): Claiming that Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav became active during the election time only, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday asked where he was when atrocities were being committed during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) in 2020.

    The Congress general secretary, who is steering the party’s campaign for the upcoming elections in Uttar Pradesh, alleged that the SP and the BSP were taking forward the BJP’s politics of religion and caste.

    “These parties think that they will get votes through such kind of politics and would rule on getting their chances. I have heard that some people are saying that BJP will win again by creating chasm in society. Why, because the reality is that the parties which are considered as the main opposition are not setting the agenda of development,” Gandhi said addressing the party’s ‘Pratigya rally’ here.

    “They also want to do the same kind of politics. The Samajwadi Party and the BSP have also taken politics of caste and religion forward,” she claimed.

    The Congress leader said during protests against the CAA, a 19-year-old boy from Bijnor was murdered and another was killed in police firing but no action was taken in this connection.

    “I want to ask if Akhileshji visited their houses. Thirteen adivasis were killed in Sonbhadra. Did Akhileshji go there? Atrocities were committed on women in Unnao and Hathras did Akhileshji go there, did he go to Lakhimpur kheri where people were killed? Why during election time he is moving about and his party is coming alive?” Gandhi added.

    She also questioned the “silence” of BSP leaders when atrocities were being committed on Dalits in Agra, Allahabad and Hathras.

    “Why did they not raise their voice? When BSP leaders give statements, why does it look like they are speaking like the BJP. Because in the end they all think that your problems and struggles have no meaning for their politics and they all think that they will seek votes on the basis of religion and caste,” she said in the rally.

    The Congress leader stressed there is no war which can be won without fighting. “When there is no fight, how will there be a victory? Everyone is thinking that they will rule and loot when their time comes. They think after five years we will raise unnecessary issues and rule. I want to give you a chance to change politics, you should make the leaders answerable on your development issues and make politics development oriented,” Gandhi said.

    She accused Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath of doing politics of religion and said this will continue until people start talking about development issues.

    The Congress leader also claimed that it is only her party which is taking up development issues while others are playing the caste and religion cards, creating differences among the masses.

    “The chief minister does not think he is answerable to people. At the election time, he gets away talking about religion,” she said, adding that politics of religion and caste will continue if people do not speak over matters concerning development.

    Referring to the recent withdrawal of agricultural laws by the Centre, she said the farmers’ stir is an example that even the government will have to “bow down” once people make up their mind and fight over issues.

    Talking about the UP TET exam paper leak on November 28, the Congress leader said this is not a new thing as it has happened in 12 other examinations during the BJP government.

    “There are more than 10 lakh government jobs lying vacant but the youth are not getting employment and the UP chief minister gives irresponsible statements that there are a number of jobs in the state but not eligible youth,” Gandhi alleged.

    Stressing on giving more participation to women in politics, the Congress general secretary said her party has decided to give 40 per cent tickets to women in the coming elections.

  • 2022 UP polls: Priyanka Gandhi pledges 20 lakh jobs, says development is Congress poll plank

    Express News Service

    LUCKNOW: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday said her party would contest the 2022 UP elections on the development plank.

    She was addressing her party’s Pratigya Rally in Moradabad. 

    Recalling the days of her grandfather-in-law, who had migrated to  Moradabad at the time of partition, Priyanka attacked the present BJP dispensation while drawing a parallel between the condition of traders than the current times. 

    She claimed that the present government had destroyed business and the businessmen of Moradabad.

    ALSO READ | PM Modi not a sympathiser of farmers but seeker of votes: Priyanka

    She listed the demonetization and GST as the factors which eclipsed the growth of the trading community in the city. “Due to wrong government policy, black money did not come to the country after demonetization, GST made the way difficult for businessmen, the wages of the artisans were reduced to half. This was compounded by the rise in prices of raw materials,” she said.

    Priyanka announced that her party will contest the polls on the development issue. If Congress comes to power in Uttar Pradesh, it would provide 20 lakh jobs and create manufacturing hubs in all the districts of the state, she said. “Congress will contest elections on basis of development. Will provide 20 lakh jobs. Manufacturing hub will open in every district,” she said. 

    She accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of not respecting the farmers who died during the agitation against the farm laws. “It will take only Rs 4,000 crore for clearing all dues of sugar cane farmers. PM Modi bought private aircraft for Rs 8,000 crore last year during the Covid pandemic. The Centre is paying Rs 20,000 crore for beautification of Parliament but doesn’t have money to clear your dues,” Priyanka Gandhi added.