Sign in

‘People have immense problems, there’s an upsurge against BJP’: Priyanka Gandhi

Speaking to HT, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi says people are fed up with politics that does not address the real hardships they are facing.

Updated on: May 19, 2024, 05:44:44 IST
Share
Share via
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • linkedin
  • whatsapp
Copy link
  • copy link

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday said after completion of four phases of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, there was an upsurge against the BJP and the people were fed up with the politics that did not address the problems being faced by them.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi says people want a politics that delivers development and prosperity to them. (Deepak Gupta/HT)
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi says people want a politics that delivers development and prosperity to them. (Deepak Gupta/HT)

Swati Maliwal row: ‘I always stand with women’, says Priyanka Gandhi Vadra

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has been camping in Rae Bareli to campaign for her brother Rahul Gandhi there and KL Sharma in Amethi, went for “darshan” at ‘Mata Mansa Devi’ temple in Rae Bareli and held a road show in Amethi before winding up her campaign in the two constituencies on Saturday. Rae Bareli and Amethi vote in the fifth phase on Monday (May 20).

“I think there is an upsurge against the BJP. I see it everywhere I go. People are fed up with politics that does not address the very real hardships they are facing. The people have immense problems. Whether they are the poor, the farmers, the labourers or the middle class. They are facing problems. They want answers, they want politicians to take responsibility for their actions and they want a politics that delivers development and prosperity to them,” she said, speaking exclusively to Hindustan Times at Bhuemau, Rae Bareli.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spoke at length about various issues that matter in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and said the BJP leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, should read the Congress manifesto before going to decode the same.

“My advice to them (the prime minister and BJP leaders) is that they should first read the Congress manifesto. You can only decode what you have read in depth. They (BJP leaders) clearly haven’t done so. Inventing and imagining things that are not in our manifesto is very different from “decoding” it,” she said.

About the allegations that Adani and Ambani are giving black money to the Congress, she said, “if the prime minister is aware of black money being given to a political party and being transported in tempos, as he alleges, then why hasn’t he had the tempos impounded and used the agencies at his command to confiscate it?”

‘Want him to be happy, married, have kids’: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's ‘wish’ for brother Rahul Gandhi

About the delay by the Congress in announcing candidates for Rae Bareli and Amethi Lok Sabha seats, she said the candidates for these seats were declared at the “correct” time.

“It didn’t take long to decide at all. In fact, we simply decided to put it out in public at what we thought was the correct time to do so. It worked fine for us strategically,” she said.

  • Pranshu Mishra
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Pranshu Mishra

    Pranshu Mishra is Hindustan Times’s Resident Editor in Lucknow. His 25-plus years of journalistic career is defined by successful stints across print and television news channels. A bilingual journalist, he started as a field reporter with, later transitioned to English journalism, and spent 18 years as a correspondent and then Bureau chief for UP — first with TimesNow and then CNN-News18 — before returning to print in his present role. An authoritative voice on Politics, religious and caste dynamics in the Hindi heartland, especially Uttar Pradesh, he is well known for his deep understanding and analysis of the complex issues shaping the social discourse in India's most populous state. He has covered multiple state and national elections, reporting extensively from urban centres to remote hinterlands. He has closely followed, reported and written on major issues. An IVLP alumnus, he is interested in studying the changing landscape of political campaigning in the age of social media.Read More

  • Umesh Raghuvanshi
    ABOUT THE AUTHOR
    Umesh Raghuvanshi

    Umesh Raghuvanshi is an award-winning journalist with nearly four decades of demonstrated experience in the profession. He is the author of Ayodhya: The Gods Are Liberated. He is skilled in storytelling and newswriting, and writes on politics, governance, legislature, finance, environment, and social issues. He is based in Lucknow, is well-travelled, and has covered several national and international events, as well as all assembly and parliament elections in Uttar Pradesh since 1984. He has been a visiting scholar at the Graduate School of Journalism, University of California, Berkeley, USA, and a Metcalf Fellow at the Metcalf Institute of Marine and Environmental Reporting, University of Rhode Island, USA. He is a science graduate from DBS College, Dehradun, and holds an MA in Political Science from DAV (PG) College, Dehradun. He won the KC Kulish International Merit Award for excellence in journalism (2015) and received it in New Delhi in 2017. He also won a competition organised by the United Nations Environment Programme DTIE OzonAction Programme in 2009 that assessed coverage of the interlinkages between ozone and climate change. He was awarded in Beijing, China, in 2010. He started his career with a Dehradun-based English daily in the early 1980s and later worked with The Pioneer too.Read More