'PM in office since 12 years, Nehru spent same number of years in jail for country': Priyanka

New Delhi, Dec 8 (PTI) Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday took on the BJP-led government during a debate on Vande Mataram in Lok Sabha, questioning its intention and asking it to address people's issues instead of delving into the past, while putting up a strong defence for Jawaharlal Nehru against attacks from the ruling side.

Here are some of the top quotes from Priyanka Gandhi's speech: * This song has become a part of the nation's soul; it has resided in the hearts of the people of the country for 150 years.

* We are having this debate here today for two reasons. Firstly, the Bengal elections are approaching, and our Prime Minister wants to play his role in them. And the second reason is...that the government wants an opportunity to level new accusations against those who fought for freedom, who made great sacrifices for the country, and it wants to divert the country's attention from the burning issues of the people.

* The truth is that today Modi is no longer the Prime Minister he used to be. The truth is, it has become evident that his self-confidence is waning, his policies are weakening the country, and my colleagues in the ruling party are silent because, deep down, they too agree with this.

* The PM gives good speeches but he is weak on facts.

* Questioning the form of Vande Mataram, which was accepted by the Constituent Assembly, is not only an insult to those great personalities who made this decision with their profound wisdom, but also reveals an anti-constitutional intent.

* I want to give him (the PM) a small piece of advice -- whatever complaints you have against Nehru ji, whatever mistakes you think he made, whatever abuses you want to hurl, whatever insults you want to inflict, make a list of all of them... 999 insults, 9,999 insults, make a list, and then we will fix a time. We will ask the Speaker, we will fix a time – 10 hours, 20 hours, 40 hours, however many hours it takes for your complaints to be fully addressed... so that you are satisfied and we can have a debate. As they say in English, 'once and for all, let's close the chapter'. Let's close it. The country will hear what the complaints are -- what did Indira ji do, what did Rajiv ji do, what is dynastic politics; what mistakes did Nehru ji make. After that, the issues of the day like unemployment, inflation and women's problems should be discussed.

* Today's debate is being conducted merely to distract attention, because this government wants to hide the current reality of this country.

* The truth is that their rule is a rule of oppression, their politics is politics of event management, a politics from one election to the next, a politics of various distracting issues. Vande Mataram is the cry of those very hopes of this country that your government is rejecting every day.

* By making this great mantra of our nation's soul a subject of controversy, you are committing a big sin. The Congress party will not be a party to this. This national song, Vande Mataram, has always been dear to us, has always been sacred to us, and will forever remain sacred to us. PTI ASK RT