India News | Why Pakistan is being discussed when the polls are in India: Priyanka slams BJP amid Aiyar Row

Amethi (UP), May 10 (PTI) Why is Pakistan being talked about when elections are underway in India and the unemployment rate here is at its highest level in 45 years, asked Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday as she hit back at the BJP over the row on Mani Shankar Aiyar’s comments.

She also asked the ruling party to fight the polls on real issues.

Also read | Narendra Dabholkar murder case verdict: Pune court sentences two murderers to life, acquits three others.

In an exclusive interview with PTI, Priyanka Gandhi accused the BJP of pushing Hindu-Muslim rhetoric to win the elections and claimed that the people do not want the polls to be contested on the basis of religion and caste.

“People are saying that you (BJP) have won two elections on religion and now we have to move on,” the Congress general secretary said.

Also read | Tamil Nadu Shocker: Man Hacks Elder Brother To Death Over Relationship With Mother-in-Law In Chennai.

Asked about the row over Congress leader Aiyar’s comments, Priyanka Gandhi asked why the issue is being discussed now when the statement is old.

“I ask when the statement was made? … If it’s an old statement, why are we discussing it today? Secondly, I would like to ask: where are the elections taking place, in India or in Pakistan? They are taking place in India So why are we discussing Pakistan?” she told PTI during her campaign trail in Amethi for party candidate Kishori Lal Sharma.

Priyanka Gandhi also wondered why there is no discussion about India’s rising unemployment rate, which is the highest in the last 45 years, and high inflation that is causing “people to go to the market and return without buying half the things that they wanted’. “.

“When they (people) have to undergo treatment, they worry. Why is this not discussed? Farmers are suffering, cannot earn, everything has become expensive, from diesel to agricultural materials. Why is this not discussed? Why are workers exploited and they don’t get enough wages?” she asked.

Aiyar’s comments on Pakistan sparked a row on Friday, with his party quickly distancing itself from the comments, while the BJP stuck to it, accusing the grand old party of being an apologist for Pakistan and the terrorism emanating from its territory.

Aiyar said the video was old and has now been dug up as the BJP’s election campaign falters.

In comments that have gone viral on social media, Aiyar is heard saying that India should show respect to Pakistan as it is a sovereign nation and engage with it as it also has a nuclear bomb.

Asked about the Congress’s attempt to keep the focus on the people’s problems, Priyanka Gandhi accused the BJP of using Hindu-Muslim rhetoric to divert attention from the real problems and its achievements.

“I feel that people are fed up and have understood that in every election they are raising Hindu Muslims, making it (the narrative) based on religion, sometimes asking them to swear in the name of God that you will vote for the BJP votes… What nonsense is this,” said the Congress General Secretary.

She asked the BJP to seek votes on the performance.

Priyanka Gandhi also asked how many elections the BJP wants to win because of its Hindu-Muslim rhetoric.

“So this is the demand of the people in this election: they say they don’t want to fight the election on the basis of religion and caste. We want to fight the elections on the basis of price hikes, unemployment, farmers’ problems and real problems, the problems we face in our daily lives,” she said.

People wonder where attention is paid to these issues, she said.

Priyanka Gandhi will remain in Rae Bareli and Amethi until the elections are held in the two seats on May 20. While Rahul Gandhi is contesting against the BJP’s Dinesh Pratap Singh in Rae Bareli, Gandhi family aide Sharma is taking on the BJP’s Smriti Irani in Amethi. .

During her street corner rallies in Amethi on Friday, Priyanka Gandhi spoke about the personal bond her family has had with the people for over a century.

She also narrated how Indira Gandhi was attacked by Modi over the issue of nationalism when Pakistan was bifurcated under her tenure as Prime Minister in 1971.

The senior Congress leader also talked about how her father Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister would come to Amethi and listen to the grievances of the people and even their ‘scolds’. He has always worked for the development of this constituency, Priyanka Gandhi said.

She even targeted Prime Minister Modi on the issue of electoral bonds and alleged that the BJP became the richest part of the world by ‘extorting money’ through the scheme.

(This is an unedited auto-generated story from the syndicated news feed. Staff may not have edited or edited the content recently)