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Tag: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

  • If food security is to be maintained, farm laws will have to be repealed: Priyanka Gandhi

    By PTI

    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Thursday said if the food security of the country is to be maintained then the “farmers’ respect will have to be restored” by repealing the agri laws enacted last year.

    Farmers grow crops and do not allow food grains shortage even during the pandemic, but the prime minister is thanked, she said in a tweet in Hindi ahead of an event at which Prime Minister Narendra Modi interacted with beneficiaries of a food security scheme in Uttar Pradesh.

    “Modi ji has brought black farm laws, which are a threat to the food power of the country. If the food security of the country is to be maintained, then the farmers’ respect will have to be restored by repealing these agri laws,” the Congress general secretary said.

    Farmers, mainly from Punjab, Haryana and western Uttar Pradesh, have been camping at Delhi’s borders since November last year in protest against the three laws.

    Out of them, a small group of 200 farmers are now staging a protest at Jantar Mantar in central Delhi after getting special permission.

    ALSO READ | Centre rejects 9.5 lakh applications from Bengal farmers for subsidy 

    ALSO READ | Opposition blames government for Parliament logjam, demand debate on Pegasus and farmers’ issue

  • In Lucknow, Priyanka Gandhi lashes out against PM Modi for praising Yogi govt’s Covid ‘management’

    By Express News Service
    LUCKNOW: On a mission to revive Congress in Uttar Pradesh (UP), the grand old party’s national general secretary in-charge for UP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra arrived in the state capital on Friday.

    Her three-day visit to the UP’s capital reportedly happened a year and half after her last trip to Lucknow.

    Priyanka’s visit to Lucknow happens at a time when the party is plagued by factionalism and after the poor performance of Congress in the recently held three-tier panchayat polls.

    She started her trip to Lucknow with a two hour silent dharna against the widespread violence during recent Panchayat polls in the state under the Mahatma Gandhi statue.

    After the silent dharna, Priyanka lashed out at the Prime Minister Narendra Modi for praising UP CM Yogi Adityanath and state government for handling Covid crisis ‘very well’.

    “The PM has given certificate of appreciation to his CM and State government for Vikasvad (development) and COVID managment. Which Vikasvad and COVID control was the PM talking about, was it about holding panchayat polls in the state amid the COVID pandemic peak, which caused enormous loss of lives. Everyone has seen how the entire health system had collapsed as the state failed totally during the second wave of the pandemic, but still the PM is rendering certificate of appreciation to his state government,” Priyanka said.

    She went on to attack the BJP government in the state by raising the issue of violence during recent district panchayat and block pramukh polls.

    “Candidates were abducted, bombs were hurled, bullets were fired, nomination papers of candidates were snatched and torn to stop them from filing nominations, women were assaulted and their clothes torn, is this the rule of law and women safety which was being praised by the PM,” she questioned further.

    “The recent poll violence has shown that democracy and constitution is under attack in UP.  It isn’t new with this government as it has been happening since last few years, but the situation has become worst now. The administration and police too are being used to finish democracy in the state. But we won’t allow this to happen, which is why we are here,” Priyanka said amid the massive crowd of party workers openly flouting COVID appropriate behaviour.

    During her three days stay in Lucknow, Priyanka will hold deliberations with farmers groups on the new farm laws, besides holding meetings with party rank and file to streamline the Congress organisation before the 2022 assembly polls, which are just seven months away.

    However, political observers believe that Priyanka’s entry in UP for the poll battle has come very late, particularly as other parties, like BJP, SP and BSP, have already started working on ground.

    The Congress’ political graph in Uttar Pradesh has been nosediving. 

    The party which won 269 seats in 1985 assembly polls and 94 seats in 1989 polls, has since then failed to even cross the 50 seats mark in successive assembly polls in the state. 

    In 2017 polls, the party, despite being in alliance with the then ruling Samajwadi Party came up with its worst performance by winning just 7 seats.

  • Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi slam UP govt over misbehaviour with women, violence ahead of polls

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday slammed the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh over alleged violence and misbehaviour with women during the filing of nominations for blockhead elections, with party leader Rahul Gandhi saying that violence has been renamed “masterstroke” in the state.

    Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra alleged that the BJP had “crossed” all limits to stop the nomination of a woman in the polls.

    “A few years ago, a rape victim raised her voice against a BJP MLA and an attempt was made to kill her and her family. Today, the BJP crossed all limits to stop the nomination of a woman. Same government. Same behaviour,” she said in a tweet in Hindi and also tagged a video purportedly showing a woman being stopped from filing her nomination in the polls.

    Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, in a tweet in Hindi, said that in Uttar Pradesh, violence has been renamed “masterstroke”.

    The brother-in-law of a block development committee member was killed in Bahraich as he resisted an alleged attempt to abduct his relative by a BJP candidate’s husband and supporters ahead of the polls for the block panchayat head.

    In another incident in Lakhimpur Kheri, a Samajwadi Party candidate was allegedly manhandled by BJP workers, after which six policemen were suspended with the administration ordering a magisterial probe.

    A woman BDC member’s saree was also pulled in front of police officers, alleged the Congress and sought an apology from the state government.

  • Amid Congress crisis in Punjab, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra meets former minister Sidhu

    By ANI
    NEW DELHI: Months ahead of Punjab Assembly polls, the rift in the state unit has intensified. While Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu met the party’s General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday, the party’s top leadership did not meet Punjab Chief Minister Captain (retd) Amarinder Singh who was in Delhi recently for three days.

    A senior Congress leader clarified that the Punjab Chief Minister had not sought time to meet the top leadership of the party. Singh, however, had met the All India Congress Committee (AICC) panel entrusted with the task to end factionalism in the state unit.

    According to sources, Priyanka held a meeting with Sidhu at her residence this morning. The meeting has come in the midst of a crisis in the Punjab unit of the party. After meeting Sidhu, Priyanka went to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s residence and had a 40-45-minutes-long meeting with him.

    Had a long meeting with @priyankagandhi Ji pic.twitter.com/Wd4FYXFrhr
    — Navjot Singh Sidhu (@sherryontopp) June 30, 2021

    After the meeting with the Wayanad MP, Priyanka returned to her residence and again held a meeting with Sidhu. Today’s meeting comes even as the party has been embattled with murmurs of rebellion in the state unit.

    Earlier, the AICC panel had submitted the report on Punjab crisis to Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi with the ground realities and suggestions after the members of the panel met the Punjab CM. In order to address the factionalism in the state unit, a three-member panel had been set up by Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi.

    It is to be noted that Rahul Gandhi has held meetings with Punjab Congress MLAs, MPs, and other important leaders from the state, including PCC Cheif Sunil Jakhar. On Friday, the leaders who reached Rahul Gandhi’s residence to attend a meeting included Vijendra Singla, Rana Gurjit Singh, RS MP Shamsher Singh Dhillon, and MLA Lakhvir Singh.

    Rajya Sabha MP Shamsher Singh Dhillon while speaking to mediapersons had said that the meeting was held to resolve infighting in the Punjab Congress and added that decisions were made to strengthen the party in the upcoming elections in the state.

    Gandhi on Wednesday met many senior Punjab leaders including Punjab Pradesh Congress Committee president Sunil Jakhar, Punjab Finance Minister Manpreet Singh Badal and Harish Rawat in Delhi amid escalating infighting in the party’s state unit.

    Punjab Assembly polls, scheduled for next year, are being considered crucial for Congress as it is one of the few states where the party is still in power.

    In 2017 Assembly polls, Congress won an absolute majority in the state by winning 77 seats and ousted the SAD-BJP government after 10 years. Aam Aadmi Party emerged as the second-largest party winning 20 seats in the 117-member Punjab Legislative Assembly. The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) could only manage to win 15 seats while the BJP secured 3 seats.

  • Congress MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu meets party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Punjab Congress leader Navjot Singh Sidhu met party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday morning, and is learnt to have discussed his role in the revamp in the party’s state unit ahead of assembly polls.

    Sidhu had said on Tuesday that he was slated to meet Rahul Gandhi but the latter denied that there was any scheduled meeting with him.

    The former Punjab minister is at loggerheads with Chief minister Amarinder Singh and has gone public against him.

    Sidhu said he had a long meeting with Vadra.

    “Had a long meeting with @priyankagandhi Ji,” Sidhu tweeted, along with a picture with Vadra.

    The Congress leadership is trying to revamp the party’s Punjab unit and present a united face ahead of assembly elections in the state early next year.

    Sources said the party leadership is trying to work out a position for Sidhu in the revamped party or state government, but he is adamant on not working with CM Singh.

    Rahul Gandhi has been meeting party leaders from Punjab for their views on the political situation and steps needed to strengthen the party ahead of the 2022 assembly polls.

    Sidhu, who had resigned from the Punjab Cabinet after he was divested of the local bodies portfolio in 2019, has been at loggerheads with Chief Minister Singh.

    He has attacked the chief minister over the alleged delay in justice in the 2015 incidents of sacrilege and subsequent police firing.

    The chief minister had slammed Sidhu for continuously attacking him over the sacrilege issue and termed the former’s outbursts “total indiscipline”.

    Earlier this month, Sidhu had appeared before a three-member panel set up by the Congress to resolve the infighting within the party’s state unit.

    On June 22, Singh appeared before the panel, headed by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, in Delhi.

    However, he returned to Chandigarh without an audience with party president Sonia Gandhi or Rahul Gandhi.

    AICC general secretary in-charge of Punjab affairs Harish Rawat and former MP J P Aggarwal are members of the panel.

  • Priyanka slams Centre over fuel prices, asks how much relief given to people from taxes collected

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday slammed the Centre over rising fuel prices and asked why the government is making the taxes on petrol and diesel a means to “loot” the people.

    In a Facebook post, the Congress general secretary said that in 2013, when the price of crude oil in the international market was USD 101 per barrel, then the people were getting petrol for Rs 66 per litre and diesel for Rs 51 per litre.

    At that time, the central government used to charge only Rs 9 per litre on petrol and Rs 3 per litre on diesel, she pointed out.

    “In 2021, the BJP government is charging you Rs 33 in taxes on every single litre of petrol and Rs 32 on diesel.

    The BJP government has increased the excise duty on petrol and diesel 12 times,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

    ALSO READ | Government may get room to cut cess on fuel: ICRA

    She said the BJP government has recovered about Rs 4 lakh crore in 2020-21 which is 300 per cent more than the amount collected in taxes on petrol and diesel in 2014.

    “Despite crude oil prices reaching USD 19 per barrel in the international market in April 2020, the central government did not allow its benefits to reach the people of the country but continued to fill their pockets and those of companies,” Priyanka Gandhi alleged.

    Even today, the oil prices in the international market are much lower than in 2013 , but this year the government has increased the prices of petrol and diesel more than 50 times, she said slamming the Centre.

    Petrol prices have hit a century in 135 districts of the country, Priyanka Gandhi said.

    “Since 2014, the BJP government has collected about Rs 21.5 lakh crore from taxes on petroleum products and in the year of pandemic, when your financial condition was not good, the government has collected about Rs 4 lakh crore from you through tax on petrol-diesel,” she said in her message to the people.

    The Congress general secretary posed several questions to hit out at the BJP over the rising prices.

    The question is when the prices of crude oil in the international market were low, why was the benefit not passed on to the people of the country, Priyanka Gandhi asked.

    She also asked if the increase of more than 300 per cent in tax collection on fuel since 2014 is justified.

    “The central government has collected 21.5 lakh crore from taxes on petroleum products in seven years, but what did the middle class, poor people, and business class get?” Priyanka Gandhi said.

    During the times of crisis, about Rs 4 lakh crore were collected from the people in the country from taxes on petrol and diesel but how much of it was spent to provide relief to them in a troubled economic situation, she asked.

    “Why is the government making taxes on petrol and diesel and their rising prices a means to loot the people of the country?” Priyanka Gandhi said.

    Petrol price soared past Rs 100-a-litre mark in Bihar after fuel prices were hiked again on Sunday on the back of a surge in international oil rates.

    Petrol price was hiked by 35 paise per litre and diesel by 25 paise, according to a price notification of state-owned fuel retailers.

    The increase, second in as many days and 31st in less than two months, took rates across the country to fresh highs with Bihar becoming the latest state to see petrol cross Rs 100-a-litre mark.

    Petrol and diesel prices were hiked by 35 paise per litre each on Saturday.

    In Delhi, petrol hit an all-time high of Rs 98.46 a litre, while diesel is now priced at Rs 88.90 per litre.

    Fuel prices differ from state to state depending on the incidence of local taxes such as value-added tax (VAT) and freight charges.

    While petrol had crossed Rs 100-a-litre mark in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Odisha, Tamil Nadu and Ladakh, several towns in Bihar saw that level after the steep price hike.

  • Journalist’s death in UP: Priyanka Gandhi says BJP govt in state ‘nurturing jungle raj’

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday hit out at the Uttar Pradesh government over the death of a journalist, who had recently run a story on the liquor mafia and was killed in what police said was a road accident.

    The Congress general secretary accused the Yogi Adityanath dispensation of “nurturing jungle raj”.

    The 42-year-old news channel reporter, Sulabh Srivastava, died as his motorcycle rammed a pole near a brick kiln in Sukhpal Nagar under the Kotwali police station area of Pratapgarh on Sunday, police said.

    “The liquor mafia from Aligarh to Pratapgarh: has caused death throughout the state. The government is silent,” Priyanka Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.

    “Journalists uncover the truth, warn the administration about the dangers. The government is asleep,” she alleged.

    Does the government that is “nurturing jungle raj” have any answers for the tears of the family of journalist Sulabh Srivastava, Priyanka Gandhi asked.

    Srivastava had recently run a news story against the liquor mafia in the region.

    Then on June 12, he wrote to the Prayagraj additional director general of police to seek protection.

    Additional Superintendent of Police Surendra Dwivedi said Srivastava died in a crash while returning from Asrahi village under the Lalganj police station area after reporting on an illegal arms manufacturing unit uncovered there.

    Following the crash, a severely injured Srivastava was taken to the district hospital, where doctors declared him dead, he said.

  • Priyanka Gandhi accuses Centre of ‘suppressing’ COVID data, prioritising propaganda over saving lives

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday accused the Centre of suppressing data related to the Covid pandemic, and said the Modi government’s emphasis on propaganda over saving lives had caused “immense damage”.

    Going ahead with her “Zimmedaar Kaun (who is responsible)” campaign, in which she has been asking questions of the government over its handling of the pandemic, the Congress general secretary focused on the data related to Covid put out by the government.

    Is it more important to save the prime minister’s image than it is to save Indian lives, she asked in her posts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram while alleging that the government was using data as a “propaganda tool”.

    “From the very start of the pandemic, the Modi government’s attitude towards data was to utilize it as a propaganda tool rather than an invaluable weapon in the fight against COVID-19,” Priyanka Gandhi added in a statement.

    The government’s propaganda machinery repeatedly indulged in the “suppression and manipulation” of data to serve the government’s political agenda even as lives were lost in “battling the scourge of a century”, she alleged.

    To emphasise her point, Priyanka Gandhi said right from the beginning of the pandemic, deaths and infections were reported as a ratio of the population while testing was reported as an absolute figure.

    “This was designed to mislead the public into believing that the infection and death rates were not alarming, while the testing rates were sufficient. In fact, it was exactly the opposite,” she said.

    The Modi government seems to be following the exact same pattern on data surrounding the vaccination programme today, Priyanka Gandhi said.

    “The Modi government’s emphasis on propaganda over saving lives has caused immense damage. It is answerable to the people of India,” Priyanka Gandhi asserted.

    Experts from across India have been demanding that data surrounding the virulence and spread of the pandemic should be made public, but this has never been done, she asserted.

    Citing the examples of states like Uttar Pradesh, she said the government presented RT-PCR and antigen test data together in order to “manipulate the truth”.

    “In fact, it is widely known that antigen tests are unreliable in comparison. In UP even now, the ratio of RT-PCR tests versus antigen tests is 65:35 per cent,” Priyanka Gandhi said.

    Both infections and the actual number of deaths have been actively “suppressed” by the government in an effort to save face, she claimed.

    Citing news reports claiming 2,000 dead bodies were found along an 1,100 kilometer stretch on the banks of the Ganga, Priyanka Gandhi said the stretch spanned 27 districts of UP and none of these deaths find space in government records.

    “Instead, when drone footage revealed hundreds of shallow graves along the Ganga in cities like Prayagraj, the UP government immediately set up a ‘Safaai Abhiyan’ (cleaning programme) aimed at obliterating any sign of the graves,” the Congress general secretary in-charge of UP alleged.

    News reports from the state revealed a glaring difference between the official death records and those kept by graveyards and crematoriums in cities like Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Lucknow, Kanpur, Jhansi and Meerut, Priyanka Gandhi said.

    The latter being many multiple times greater than the former, she added.

    Posing questions to the government, she asked why the Modi government summarily ignored the advice of scientists and experts and not make the data around the spread of COVID-19 transparent and public.

    Did the Centre not understand the importance of correct use of data as one of the most essential tools to fight COVID or was there some other reason behind its actions, she asked.

    Pointing to the alleged difference between official death records, death certificates issued and crematorium/graveyard records across India, Priyanka Gandhi asked why the Modi was government doing nothing to rationalize these differences and put the true figures before the people of India.

    “Does the Modi government’s image management matter more than COVID management? Is it more important to save the Prime Minister’s image than it is to save Indian lives?” Data is a double-edged sword, she said.

    On its own, it can never reflect the true human cost of a tragedy as it cannot account for the pain, the trauma and the suffering of people, yet it is critical in the management of any natural disaster — especially a pandemic — of the scale being experienced today, Priyanka Gandhi asserted.

    The Congress has been critical of the Centre’s handling of the Covid situation in the country, but the government has dismissed the criticism of the Opposition party, accusing it of politicising the pandemic.

  • Bihar’s ‘cycle girl’ gets helping hand from Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

    Express News Service
    PATNA: Jyoti Kumar, popularly known as Cycle Girl of Bihar, got a helping hand from National General Secretary of Indian National Congress Priyanka Gandhi Vadra after the death of her father Mohan Paswan a few days ago.

    On Thursday evening, Priyanka Gandhi spoke to young Jyoti over the phone and consoled her.

    On May 18 2020, Jyoti Kumari took her ill father all the way home from Haryana’s Gurugram to Bihar’s Darbhanga on a cycle during the Covid-19 lockdown.

    Jyoti Kumari was even lauded by Ivanka Trump, the daughter of former US president Donald Trump, for her determination to get her father treated.

    But after the death of her father, the ‘cycle girl of Bihar’ is facing a tough time to meet theexpenses.

    Jyoti’s father was the lone bread-earner to his family.

    Priyanka Gandhi Vadra encouraged her over phone and announced that the Congress would meet all her expenses, especially education, among other things.

    Speaking to Gandhi, Jyoti expressed her desire to meet the Congress national general secretary. Impressed with Jyoti’s desire, Priyanaka promised to meet her in New Delhi as soon as the Covid-19 pandemic ends.

    A letter of condolence, written by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, was handed over to Jyoti Kumari by party leader Mashqool Ahmed.

    In return, as sources said, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also asked Jyoti Kumari to feel free to seek any kind of assistance to over come these tough times.

    Senior leader of Bihar state Congress Party Dr Madan Mohan Jha said that the responsibility of bearing education cost was taken by the party following the commitment made by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.

  • Priyanka Gandhi writes to Education Minister, advocates not holding Class 12 board exams

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday wrote to Union Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and advocated not holding Class 12 board exams amid the pandemic, saying children will be subjected to great injustice if they are pushed into circumstances that endanger their lives.

    In her letter to the minister, Priyanka Gandhi shared the suggestions she received from several students and parents who had interacted with her on the matter in the past few days.

    After a high-level meeting on May 23, the minister had said that there was a broad consensus among states about conducting Class 12 board exams and an “informed, collaborative” decision would be taken by June 1.

    In a tweet, Priyanka Gandhi said, “I have written to the Minister of Education summarising numerous suggestions I received from students, parents and teachers regarding the 12th standard CBSE exams. Their voice must be heard.”

    Noting that it is the government’s responsibility and duty to protect them, she said, “I once again urge you to reconsider holding the CBSE 12th board exams and to consider the above suggestions made by them very, very seriously.”

    “It will be a great injustice if they are pushed into circumstances that endanger their lives when it is completely unnecessary and it will be a great pity if we let them down at this trying time in their lives,” she added.

    The Congress leader has been pushing for not holding board exams for Class 12 and has suggested several ways to hold assessment or open book exams from students at home.

    “It is cruel and heartless to expect these children not only to study and perform well in the board exams, but even more so to subject themselves to crowded exam centres at which there is no guarantee for their health and safety,” she told the minister.

    She said experts have repeatedly stated that a third wave is imminent and have warned that it might be more perilous for children and teenagers.

    She noted that it is undeniable that children will collect in large numbers in exam centres across India if these exams are to be held and it is quite possible that the beginning of another wave might develop from these circumstances.

    The Congress general secretary said uncountable children are suffering from trauma, anxiety and depression already and many have written to her saying how helpless and bereft they feel.

    “They have been in this state of limbo for months now, struggling to cope with disease, deaths of people around them and circumstances that would have been unimaginable for any of us just two years ago.

    It is unfair to prolong this decision any further and to cause them even more stress when it is entirely avoidable,” she said.