Ludhiana/Patiala

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Sunday lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi alleging that he has no respect for farmers, Punjab and sacrifices made by Punjabis.

Promising legal guarantee for MSP while addressing a rally at the New Grain Market in Khanna in favour of Fatehgarh Sahib candidate Dr Amar Singh, Priyanka alleged that Modi was hesitant in bringing the law on the legal guarantee to benefit his friends ‘Ambanis’ and ‘Adanis’, to whom he had already handed over the cold storages, ports and airports of the country. The BJP gave a ticket to a family member of accused who “crushed” six farmers who were protesting peacefully at Lakhimpur Khiri.

In a bid to woo farmers, the Congress leader said if voted to power, the party will remove GST from farming equipment and will make sure that the farmers get compensation for their losses due to natural calamity within a month.

“The Modi government has waved loan of ₹16 lakh crore of corporates and capitalists but did not wave loans of poor farmers who are committing suicides due to debt,” she added.

Priyanka also talked about drug abuse, security of women in Punjab, and FIR against the managing editor of media house in Punjab without naming INDIA bloc partner Aam Aadmi Party.

‘Modi speaking lies, to capture power’

Addressing an “all-women” rally in favour of Patiala candidate Dr Dharamvira Gandhi, Priyanka accused the PM of “speaking lies and making hollow promises with the public only to capture power”.

The Congress leader lashed out at the Modi government asking why there was no prosperity in the lives of people if the country’s economy is growing at a rapid pace. “Over 70 crore youth are unemployed in the country, and that too when 30 lakh posts are vacant in the government sector. The unemployment rate is highest in 45 years,” she alleged.

The Congress leader accused the BJP of not respecting the public. “They do not speak about your problems. They do not tell what they are doing to contain inflation and bring down unemployment. They do not tell why women are feeling unsafe in Punjab. They do not tell why the drug problem has increased so much in Punjab,” she added.

Hitting out at Modi over “mangalsutra remark”, Priyanka said: “The PM says if you have buffaloes, the Congress will steal. In order to create an illusion among the women, he says that the Congress will conduct an X-ray and will steal your ‘mangalsutra’. He also says that the Congress is anti-Hindu and it is written in our manifesto that it will take your jewellery and give it to others,” she said.

By saying such things, the PM is thinking that all the women in the country are fools, she added.

“In reality, the Congress is a party of Mahatma Gandhi who fought Independence through teachings of holy Hindu scripture Bhagavad Gita,” she said.

Priyanka also urged the women to be united, understand the power within, stand up to “falsehood” and make sure Lok Sabha elections in 2024 are fought on real issues.

“One should seriously contemplate whether they want to vote for the real issues like inflation and unemployment that is affecting their lives or for the government that wants to stay in power and just showing on TV that their economy is going strong,” she said.

Questioning Modi over black money, the Congress leader said the PM told every Indian that they would get ₹15 lakh in their bank accounts, but he didn’t tell that the BJP became the richest party in 10 years. “Did the black money ended up in their (BJP’s) accounts? We have been in power for 55 years, but we (Congress) couldn’t become the richest party,” said said.

After addressing the women voters, Priyanka met son, daughter-in-law and daughter of former Congress state president and close confidant Navjot Singh Sidhu.

She also talked about five Nyays and 25 guarantees promised in the Congress manifesto.

The Congress is already giving ₹2,000 per months to women in Karnataka and Telangana and it would be implemented in the entire country. The Congress will give ₹1 lakh per year to a woman of each poor family and work on it will be initiated within one month of forming the government at the Centre, she claimed.