All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s men speak haughtily about changing the Constitution that was written with the blood of the nation’s freedom fighters and martyrs.
“They treat the Constitution of India that upholds our rights of liberty, equality, and brotherhood as an instrument of their own greed and ambition — as if it is a piece of paper worth nothing, she said at an election campaign meeting held at Cheraman ground near Eriyad, Thrissur in support of Benny Behanan, candidate of the United Democratic Front in Chalakudy Lok Sabha constituency in Kerala on April 20.
Alleging that the policies were made for the benefit of the Prime Minister’s monopolist friends in this “new nation”, Ms. Gandhi said that the it happened at a time when masses fell into unemployment and poverty.
“Public assets that belong to the people of India, assets that were built by the sweat and toil of our people, are handed to the Prime Minister’s billionaire friends one after the other with impunity. Airports, ports, highways, vast tracts of public land and whole sectors of industry like cement, power and coal are virtually controlled by just a handful of businessmen close to the Prime Minister,” she said.
AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra arriving at Cheraman ground near Eriyad in Thrissur on Saturday to address a campaign meeting in support of Benny Behanan, the UDF candidate in the Chalakudy constituency. | Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT
The Congress leader pointed that loans worth ₹16 lakh crore were waived for them while farmers unable to afford their basic needs commit suicide for a few thousand rupees they don’t have the means to repay.
Blaming the Bharatiya Janata Party led National Democratic Alliance government of having silenced voices of dissent, she said that the government harasses, accuses, and imprisons those who dare to speak against them like thugs who oppress those who raise their heads in protest,
“Students are arrested for expressing their opinion, activists are raided and jailed, journalists are sacked, beaten, and imprisoned for reporting the truth and much of the media is controlled by collaborators of a government that believes in false propaganda, silence, and oppression. Opposition leaders are imprisoned and expelled from parliament with impunity. Government agencies that are meant to protect the law are turned into unlawful extortionists and used to silence dissent. This is the New India we are accepting today,” she said.
On the allegations of corruption over the electoral bond scheme, Ms. Gandhi said that the government passed an ordinance enabling the scheme so that political donations can be accepted anonymously from companies. “It then coerces, harasses, and raids companies to extort donations from them. One company’s valuation is lower than the amount it donates to the ruling party! Others have cases opened against them before they make hefty donations and suddenly, their problems vanish. Many appear to donate in exchange for business deals and contracts, the list is endless,” she said.
Accusing the government of protecting rapists and defending the oppressors and abusers of women, Ms. Gandhi alleged that women were molested and paraded naked before the entire nation in Manipur and the government did nothing. “Instead, our Prime Minister tells us that he is fighting for the rights of women, and we are told to believe him,” she said.
Besides Mr. Behanan, AICC general secretary in-charge of Kerala affairs Deepa Dasmunshi; Opposition Leader V. D Satheesan attended the meeting.
