Launching a sharp attack on the Central government, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said that under the reign of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, “British Raj-like conditions” are prevailing in the country, with the government policies only benefiting billionaires.
“British Raj-like conditions are prevalent in the country. The policies of the Modi government are not being made keeping in mind the poor but have been made to benefit the billionaires. International reports show that today the condition of inequality in India is worse than British rule,” Priyanka Gandhi said on Tuesday while addressing Congress workers in the Rae Bareli constituency in Uttar Pradesh, where her brother and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi is contesting.
“All the institutions which strengthen democracy are being weakened, be it media or Parliament. Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Nehru had fought against the British to strengthen the rights of the people, little did they know that a day would come in independent India when the government would be bent upon depriving the people of their rights,” she added.
She alleged that efforts are being made to change the Constitution, which provides a system like reservation that has changed the lives of crores of people. It is the misfortune of the country that today a person is sitting on the Prime Minister’s chair whose language, behaviour and actions are of low standard, she said.
“We have always given priority to development and have dreamed of a developed and prosperous Rae Bareli. When we got the opportunity, we created employment and development opportunities in Rae Bareli but the Modi government either closed many of the projects started by us or promoted them in its name,” Priyanka Gandhi said.
Raebareli constituency goes to the polls on May 20. In the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi won the constituency, bagging 534,918 votes. Her closest rival, Dinesh Pratap Singh, put up a formidable challenge, gathering 367,740 votes.
Rahul Gandhi had been representing the neighbouring Amethi constituency in Lok Sabha from 2004 to 2019, when he lost to the BJP’s Smriti Irani.
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