Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh), April 17: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi today alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was oblivious of the harsh realities prevailing in the country as he was surrounded by few “yes men” who were scared of telling him the truth.
Addressing the public gatherings during a roadshow here today, Ms Gandhi observed, Modi may not be aware of what is happening in the country. She pointed out, even when farmers were staging protests at his doorsteps, he did not bother to come out to meet them.
Ms Gandhi led a roadshow that covered most parts of the city. Tens of thousands of people joined the roadshow, which was estimated to be about 2.5 kms long. On the way, people greeted and waived at her and also showered rose petals on her vehicle.
She said she was feeling overwhelmed and touched by the love and affection people had showered on her as it was actually her homecoming.
Priyanka Gandhi alleged that the Prime Minister was not bothered about the common man in the country but was concerned about a few billionaires like Adani and Ambani, whom he was providing all the benefits.
She pointed out, it was people like Adani for whom the Prime Minister had waived off Rs 16 lakh crores of debts, while not a single penny of any farmer was waived off. She said, farmers were committing suicide for a debt as small as Rs ten thousand and Modi was not bothered about them.
The Congress general secretary alleged the Prime Minister was bothered only about his capitalist cronies and how to stick to power. She said he can go to any extent to stick to power whether by intimidating the opponents, buying the legislators or destabilising the opposition parties’ governments.
Referring to Lord Rama and his strength of truth and justice, she pointed out how he fought mighty Ravan with faith and truth. She said, India is a country that worships truth but not power. She said, people who are ruling the country today are not the worshippers of truth and Shakti as they are worshippers of power only. “This is not the tradition of our country”, she remarked, while adding, “our tradition is truth and faith and not the power worship”.
Blasting the Prime Minister’s claims that the Electoral Bond scheme had brought transparency in political funding, she asked, if it was so, why did the scheme keep a provision to conceal the names of the donors? She pointed out, it was only after the Supreme Court scrapped the policy and asked for the names of the donors to be disclosed that the names of donors were revealed. “This is Modi’s honesty and fight against corruption”, she remarked with a pinch of sarcasm. She said, if Modi had really fought against corruption, the wealth of the country would not have been in the hands of a few billionaires alone, who happen to be his close friends.