Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Friday hit back at the BJP on the row over Mani Shankar Aiyar's remarks and asked about the timing of the comment which has surfaced during the Lok Sabha elections. Priyanka Gandhi accused the BJP of raising the Hindu-Muslim rhetoric to win the elections and asserted that the people don't want the polls to be contested on the basis of religion and caste. In comments that have gone viral on social media, Aiyar is heard saying that India should give respect to Pakistan as it is a sovereign nation and engage with it as it also possesses an atom bomb.
"People are saying you've (the BJP) won two elections on religion and now move forward from that," the Congress general secretary said. Questioned on the row over Congress leader Aiyar's remarks, Priyanka Gandhi asked why the issue is being discussed now when the statement is an old one.
"I ask when was the statement made? … If it is an old statement, then why are we discussing it today? Secondly, I want to ask, where are elections taking place, in India or in Pakistan? They are taking place in India. So why are we discussing Pakistan?" she said during her campaign trail in Amethi for the party's candidate Kishori Lal Sharma.
"If they (people) have to get treatment done, they feel worried. Why is this not being talked about? Farmers are suffering, unable to earn, everything has become expensive, from diesel to farming materials. Why is this not being discussed? Why are labourers being exploited and do not get enough wages?," she asked. Aiyar's remarks on Pakistan sparked a row on Friday, with his party quick to dissociate itself from the comments while the BJP latched on to those, accusing the grand old party of being an apologist for Pakistan and the terrorism emanating from its soil.
With PTI inputs
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