Those screaming dynasty politics can never understand 'sacrifices made by our ancestors': Priyanka

Bettiah (Bihar), Nov 5 (PTI) Congress general secretary Priyanka Vadra on Wednesday took the BJP-led NDA's "dynasty politics" charge head-on, asserting that detractors of her party were unable to appreciate "the sacrifices made by our ancestors".

Addressing a rally in Valmiki Nagar, a remote assembly segment in West Champaran district of Bihar, she also cited the praise of Jawaharlal Nehru, her great-grandfather, by the newly elected Mayor of New York, and rued that the first Prime Minister of India was facing "insults", after his death, on his home soil.

"We want to serve you. We understand that the wealth of the nation belongs to you. Our ancestors took part in the struggle for freedom. Many of your forefathers gave up their lives for Independence as well," said the Raebareli MP, striking a chord with the masses.

"The soil here is soaked in your blood as well as our blood. But those who scream from stages that there is dynasty politics can never understand these sacrifices, including martyrdom (shahadat). This is not parivarvaad but our dharma towards the nation," said Vadra, whose father Rajiv Gandhi and grandmother Indira Gandhi, both former prime ministers, were assassinated less than a decade apart.

She also alleged, "From morning till evening, leaders of the BJP remain busy hurling abuses at Nehru, blaming him for all the ills that plague the country. The memory of Nehru was invoked recently by a person who won an election in New York, a major city in America. And here, in Nehru's own country, we see insults heaped on him on a daily basis." The allusion was to Zohran Mamdani, the recently elected Mayor of New York, who quoted the famous 'Tryst with Destiny' speech by Nehru, delivered on the day India got Independence.

Fondly speaking of "my brother Rahul Gandhi", Vadra fulminated against Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charge that the Voter Adhikar Yatra, in which she also had participated briefly, was aimed at "protecting infiltrators".

"My brother Rahul Gandhi took out the yatra for you, the common people, whose right to vote is at risk. He has exposed another instance of vote theft in Haryana," said Vadra, whose speech nearly coincided with the latest press conference by the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha.

"The Prime Minister says we are working for infiltrators. Do you people see yourselves as infiltrators (ghuspaithiye)," she remarked with wonder. PTI SUK NAC ACD