NEW DELHI: Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi held a joint rally in Wayanad to drum up support for his sister contesting the by polls after he vacated the seat to retain Rae Bareli.
Priyanka Gandhi, who spoke ahead of Rahul Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of favoring big business interests over the well-being of the people, while Rahul Gandhi chose not to name the Prime Minister and the government and instead speak more about the family and his sister Priyanka Gandhi.
“In this meeting , I have a choice in front of me to either give a political message or a speech I would give to my family members. I would rather speak to you like I speak to my family. I would like to give a speech more about the candidate herself,” Rahul Gandhi said addressing the rally after Priyanka Gandhi had finished.
“Anyway, she has already mentioned PM Modi, and we are all bored of him. Why mention him twice?” he said.
Priyanka Gandhi, who spoke first hit out at the government and singled out PM Modi, saying he had put the intrests of big business business first at the expense of well-being of the people. She claimed that the government aims to remain in power by sowing divide, spreading hatred, and controlling democratic institutions.
“Modi ji’s government works only for his big businessman friends. His objective is not to give you a better life. It is not to find new jobs. It is not to provide better health or education initiatives and programs. It is simply to stay in power by any means possible. And what are those means? Those means are dividing you, spreading anger, spreading hatred amongst you, Taking your rights away from you oppressing democratic institutions,” she said addressing the rally in Wayanad.
Giving credit to the people of Wayanad for electing Rahul Gandhi, she praised them people for what she called standing up for what is right. “Rahul Gandhi has shown the way. He has raised your issues in Parliament. But the issue is that governments are not working as a government for the people,” she said.
Priyanka Gandhi further said that Rahul Gandhi “fought hard” to improve the facilities at the Wayanad Medical College, but the facilities still need to be improved. She also told them that she would take up the issue of job shortage in the region, if elected as MP.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi choosing not to give a political speech, spoke of the qualities of her sister. “She is the person who went and hugged the girl who was implicated in my father’s (Rajiv Gandhi) assassination. She said to me after she came back after meeting Nalini, she went emotional and then she said to me that I’m feeling bad for her,” Rahul Gandhi recalled.
“That is the training that she has received. And to me, this is the type of politics that needs to be done in India. Not the politics of hatred, but politics of love and affection,” he added.
However, the LoP also said that the primary struggle in the country today is to protect and preserve the Constitution, adding that the Constitution of the country was not written with hatred, but with humility and love.
“The main fight in the country today, that is taking place, is the fight for the Constitution of our country. The protection that we get, the greatness of our country, all emerged from the Constitution.”
“The Constitution was written by the people who fought the British, the people who had suffered, who spent years and years and years in jail. And they wrote the Constitution with humility, with love and with affection,” he said.
Priyanka Gandhi announced her decision to take the electoral plunge after Rahul Gandhi vacated the Wayanad seat following his victory in both Wayanad and Rae Bareli in the LS polls. She will face off against Navya Haridas of the BJP and senior CPI leader Sathyan Mokeri, who is representing the LDF.
Voting for the Wayanad by-election is scheduled for November 13, with the vote counting set for November 23.