Priyanka Gandhi takes on BJP in Parliament speech — ‘you cannot stop us; we are for country, you for elections’

Indian National Congress (INC) MP from Wayanad, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, on Monday, lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during a debate in the Lok Sabha on the 150th anniversary of ‘Vande Mataram’, stating that her party will continue to battle against their ideology.

She said the BJP focuses on elections while her party stands for the country.

“You (BJP) are for the elections, we are for the country. No matter how many elections we lose, we will sit here and keep fighting you and your ideology. We will keep fighting for our country. You cannot stop us...” ANI quoted Priyanka as saying.

She said that there were two reasons for holding a debate on Vande Mataram in the House that day —the first was that elections were approaching in West Bengal, and in that situation, the Prime Minister wanted to assert his role and the second was that the government wanted an opportunity to level new accusations against those who had fought in the freedom struggle and sacrificed for the country.

She added that, by doing so, the government aimed to divert the nation’s attention from essential issues concerning the public.

Priyanka Gandhi slams PM Modi

Priyanka further took a dig at PM Modi and claimed he has an art of delivering facts but becomes weak in such a situation.

“Today, the Prime Minister started this discussion. He gave a speech and there is no hesitation in saying that he gives good speeches, but he becomes weak when it comes to facts. There is an art in this, too, as to how the facts should be presented before the public. I am new, I am a people's representative and not an actor…”

She hit out at the BJP for attacking former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru and claimed the government intended to use the debate to level new accusations against those who fought for India’s independence.

As per a PTI report, she said, “Since you keep talking about Nehru, let's do one thing, let's assign a time for a discussion, list out all the insults against him... debate it and let's close the chapter for once and all. After that, let’s talk about today’s issues - price rise and unemployment.”

The Congress leader outlined the “chronology” of the national song Vande Mataram and referred to correspondence between Jawaharlal Nehru and Subhas Chandra Bose to counter the prime minister’s accusation that the Congress had engaged in appeasement politics over the song.

Priyanka Gandhi said the subject under discussion was tied to the country’s soul and that Vande Mataram evoked memories of India’s freedom struggle. She remarked that the debate was unusual because the song already held a deep place in people’s hearts, making such a discussion unnecessary.

Priyanka Gandhi lists out reasons why government wanted Vande Mataram debate

She questioned the purpose of the debate, asking what their objective and responsibility toward the people were, and why there should be any controversy around the national song.

She alleged that the debate was being held because the Bengal elections were approaching, and the Prime Minister wanted to play a role in the political narrative there.

According to her, the second reason for the debate was the government’s intention to raise new allegations against those who fought for India’s independence and made great sacrifices.

She argued that the government wanted to keep the country focused on the past because it did not wish to address the present or plan for the future.

Priyanka Gandhi also suggested that the prime minister was no longer as confident as before, claiming that his diminishing self-assurance and weakening policies were harming the country. She added that her colleagues in the government remained silent because, deep down, they were aware of this as well.

(With inputs from agencies)