Lok Sabha elections: In a blistering attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday lashed out at the PM over his "gold and mangalsutra" remarks, saying her mother Sonia Gandhi sacrificed her ‘mangalsutra’ for the country.
“What talks are happening in this country? Two days back there were speeches that Congress wants to snatch your 'mangalsutra'. This country has been free for the past 75 years, and 55 years Congress was in power. Did Congress ever snatch your gold or 'mangalsutra'?,” she asked at an election rally. In a sharp attack on Modi, Priyanka said: “When there was war, Indira Gandhi (her grandmother and former prime minister) donated her gold."
She further said, "My mother’s 'mangalsutra' was sacrificed for this country," referring to the assassination of her father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi by terrorists. “Had Narendra Modi understood the importance of 'mangalsutra', he would not have spoken such unethical things," she added.
"The women do not sleep until everyone is asleep in the family and when there is trouble in the family, women mortgage their ornaments," she said. "Women will prefer sleeping hungry rather than letting others sleep on an empty stomach." “These people (BJP) do not know her struggle. When the farmer is in debt, his wife mortgages her mangalsutra. When there is a daughter's marriage or health problems in the family, the woman mortgages her jewels," she underlined.
Priyanka was referring to Modi's allegations that the Congress plans to give people's hard-earned money and valuables to "infiltrators" and "those who have more children'' — alluding to Muslims in his campaign speech in Rajasthan yesterday — and would steal the "gold of mothers and sisters" if voted to power.
“During the farmers’ agitation, 600 farmers died. Did Modi give a thought on the 'mangalsutra' of those women? When a woman was paraded naked in Manipur before the entire nation, why was Modi silent and not think of her mangalsutra?” Priyanka asked.
