Lucknow: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday sought to counter prime minister Narendra Modi's remarks that senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had ''gone silent'' on ''Ambani-Adani'' since announcement of the Lok Sabha polls, saying that his brother 'mentioned' them in his election meetings every day and asked the prime minister to explain as to why his government had waived off loans of big industrialists worth thousands of crores while debt ridden farmers had been dying by suicide.
Priyanka, who addressed a series of election rallies in Raebareli from where Rahul Gandhi was in the fray, said that instead of helping the people and resolving their problems, Modi gave them five kilograms of ration.
''We mention Ambani and Adani in our speeches every day.....we always bring before the people the truth about the nexus between the industrialists and them (BJP),'' she said.
''They (Centre) waived off loans of big industrialists worth 16 lakh crores but the farmers, who have debts of Rs one lakh, have been dying suicide....their loans were not waived,'' Priyanka said. ''Modiji has only misled the people....the wealth of the country is being given to his industrialist friends,'' she added.
Priyanka also said that the BJP leaders never talked about rising prices and employment and only tried to distract the attention of the people by talking about irrelevant issues.
The Congress leader said that the entire BJP machinery was after Rahul Gandhi. ''They had him expelled from the Parliament...he was thrown out of his house but he did not back down...he travelled thousands of kilometres on foot to understand the problems of the people, she said.
Priyanka also sought to remind the electorate of Raebareli about her family's long association with them and said her great grandfather Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru had been arrested in Raebareli during a farmers' agitation 103 years back.
Published 08 May 2024, 11:35 IST