Priyanka Gandhi likens BJP govt to 'British regime'

Continuing her tirade against the BJP, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said that the NDA government was "suppressing" the voice of the people and likened it to the 'British regime'.

The Congress star campaigner also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "persecuting" her family and said that she was not "scared" of Modi.

Priyanka, who arrived in Varanasi by boat from Mirzapur, said that the BJP was resorting to "publicity" to "fool" the people and asked Modi to "stop" this practice.

She continued her temple hopping and paid obeisance at the famous Kashi Vishwanath Temple besides performing 'Ganga Pujan' on the bank of the holy river.

"Congress workers silently suffered beatings in the British regime... They never hit back... They never deviated from the path of truth," she said while addressing party workers in Varanasi.

"The British regime used to suppress and persecute people... It is also happening under this government... The only difference is that now the dictators are Hindustani," Priyanka said.

"We are not scared... The more you (Modi) persecute us (Priyanka's family), the stronger our fight will be,'' she remarked.

Priyanka said that the BJP had a lot of money and that it was easy for it to resort to "publicity".

She also referred to the police action on the girls of Benaras Hindu University (BHU), when they were protesting against alleged molestation of one of their classmates a few months ago, and said that the university administration forced the parents to furnish an undertaking that their daughters would not take part in any demonstration.

"What is this? Do the girls have no right to protest?" she asked.

Priyanka displayed a piece of paper allegedly containing the promises made by Modi during the 2014 polls to the people of Varanasi and said that none of them were fulfilled.

Earlier, Priyanka arrived by boat to Assi Ghat from Ramnagar and performed 'puja' on the bank of the Ganga.

She later performed 'Rudrabhishek' (a special puja of Lord Shiva) at Kashi Vishwanath Temple.

The Congress leader also garlanded the statue of former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri and held dialogue with the members of the 'Mallah' (boatmen) community.