Congress general secretary on Tuesday, April 23, Priyanka Gandhi lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his divisive remarks that the Congress party will snatch away the Mangalsutra of women and distribute it to “infiltrators”, explicitly referring to Muslims. The Congress general secretary was in Bengaluru on Tuesday, campaigning for her party’s candidate for Bengaluru South Sowmya Reddy.
In a rousing speech, the Congress leader reminded the contributions of Indira Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi for the country.
“They are saying that the Congress party is going to take away your Mangalsutra and jewelry. This country has been independent for the past 75 years, and the Congress has been in power for 55 years. Did anyone take away your jewelry or Mangalsutras? When the (Indo-China) war broke out Indira Gandhi had given away her jewelry for the country. My mother’s Mangalsutra was sacrificed to this country,” Priyanka said referring to the assassination of her father Rajiv Gandhi.
Earlier on Sunday, April 21, Narendra Modi while campaigning for the BJP in Rajasthan claimed, “When the Congress-led government was in power, they had said that Muslims have the first right over the country’s assets. This means that they will distribute wealth to those who have more children and those who are infiltrators. Is this acceptable to you?” He added, “This Urban Naxal thinking will not spare even the mangalsutras of my mothers and sisters.” Narendra Modi was referring to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s 2006 speech which he quoted out of context.
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The hateful speech was in violation of the Model Code of Conduct. However, the Election Commission of India has “declined to comment” on the issue.
She said that the BJP does not understand the struggles of the women. “If Modi ji understood the significance of Mangalsutra he would not have made such a wicked remark. When a farmer accumulates debts his wife pawns the Mangalsutra. Women pawn their Mangalsutra for the children’s education and medical expenses. These are things which they do not understand. A testimony of this: When demonetization happened. They took away the savings of women and said ‘go to the bank’. Where was Modi ji then?”
She asked, why did the Prime Minister keep quiet for the Manipur woman who was paraded naked.
The Congress leader accused Prime Minister Modi of deliberately trying to divert the public attention from real issues by exploiting their religious sentiments, since he had nothing to show for his ten years for which he could seek votes.
She said that the Congress party knows how to protect the Mangalsutra and dignity of the women and that is why it has announced to provide Rs one lakh every year to one woman in every poor family and 50 percent reservation in government jobs for women.