Vote for change, don’t get carried away by PM Modi’s speeches: Priyanka Gandhi

Exhorting people to not get carried away by the words used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speeches. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra asked voters on Saturday (April 13) to vote for change in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing a poll rally in Uttarakhand's Ramnagar, she said elections should be fought on real issues and not on the basis of empty rhetoric.

"Don't get carried away by the words used by Modiji in his election speeches. Before casting your vote, you should honestly ask yourself whether 10 years of the Modi government have really brought about a positive change in your lives," the Congress general secretary said.

Ever-growing unemployment, uncontrolled inflation and paper-leak scams are the truths of people's lives and the BJP-led government is responsible for these as it has been in power for the last 10 years, she said.

Protecting killers of Ankita Bhandari

Gandhi also said people should ask PM Modi who is protecting the killers of resort receptionist Ankita Bhandari and the woman from Unnao in neighbouring Uttar Pradesh.

Accusing the Modi government of not honouring any of its promises, the Congress leader reminded people that commitments, such as two crore jobs to youngsters and depositing Rs 15 lakh in the bank accounts of every citizen, remain unfulfilled.

She also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using religion in every election for votes.

"Modi had described Himachal Pradesh also as Devbhoomi ahead of the Assembly polls in the state. The Congress won the election and when a disaster struck after a few months, the Modi government did not even give a penny as relief to the people of the state. All relief was given by the state government from its own resources," Gandhi said.

She claimed that the word "Devbhoomi" is used by BJP leaders in election speeches for political reasons.

Religion not for political experiment

The Congress leader said when the prime minister says “baar Modi sarkar”, she feels like asking 'aur kitni baar Modi sarkar'? "Sacrifice is the biggest value of the Hindu religion. True faith comes from sacrifices. I have known sacrifice. As a 19-year-old, I kept my father's body parts before my mother. We keep mum when they insult our martyred father because there is true faith in our hearts," Gandhi said.

Her father, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated in 1991.

"For us, religion is not a subject for political experiment," the Congress leader said.

This was the first major rally of the Congress in Uttarakhand ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Priyanka Gandhi is scheduled to address another rally in Roorkee, which forms part of the Haridwar Lok Sabha constituency, later in the day.

The Lok Sabha polls are scheduled to be held in seven phases starting April 19 and the counting of votes will be taken up on June 4.