Priyanka Gandhi criticizes BJP-led government as authoritarian and discriminatory

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra criticized the BJP-led Centre, calling it racist and fascist. She accused them of protecting rapists, extorting businesses, silencing dissent, and bullying the judiciary. She urged the people to fight against the oppressive government and choose wisely in the upcoming elections for the soul of India.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday attacked the BJP-ruled Centre, accusing it of being a ''racist, fascist, and oppressive'' government that was ''haughtily'' speaking of changing the Indian Constitution that was ''written with the blood of freedom fighters.'' The Congress leader also charged the BJP-led administration with working for the benefit of the Prime Minister's ''monopolist friends,'' protecting rapists and oppressors of women, extorting businesses through the electoral bonds, silencing dissenting voices by using government agencies, and ''bullying'' the judiciary.

Gandhi alleged that elected governments were being bought and sold at the will of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and people were being fed ''false figures'' about the economy when the common citizen was struggling to support his family amidst the rising prices of basic commodities.

''Standing here, ten years into the rule of a racist, fascist, and oppressive government, I have no hesitation in saying to you that we are, at this moment in our nation’s history, standing in the eye of such a storm. A storm that is wreaking havoc on the soul of India,'' she contended.

She said it was time for the people to awaken as in the Bhagavad Gita, Lord Krishna ''taught us to set aside fear, greed, and ego and embrace the ways of love, compassion, and humility.'' ''How can we watch in silence while our beloved country is overrun by the untamed ego, greed, and ruthless arrogance of the BJP, its allies, and its supreme leader?'' Gandhi asked.

''Brothers and sisters, there is a great battle taking place across our nation today. So, my sisters and brothers, you have a onerous responsibility towards your country today. The choice you make in a few days will determine which side will win the battle for India,'' she said while speaking at a poll rally in the Chalakudy Lok Sabha seat seeking votes for Congress candidate Benny Behanan.

Gandhi said that one side wants to distract people and divide them, while the other wants the citizens to unite, focus on their future, and take back their power.

''On one side stand the forces of this new version of India, and on the other stand those who fight for the India that was built from the toil of our people and the blood of our martyrs,'' she noted.

The Congress leader said that the very foundations of India's nationhood stand at the threshold of destruction today, but some people tell her instead that a ''new India'' is being created.

She claimed that ''the new India'' that people were being asked to accept was one where ''force asserts itself over righteousness and laws are enacted, bypassing the processes of democracy and being enforced upon people against their will.'' ''In this new nation, the Prime Minister’s men speak haughtily about changing the constitution that was written with the blood of our freedom fighters and martyrs.

''They treat the Constitution of India, which upholds our rights to liberty, equality, and brotherhood, as an instrument of their own greed and ambition, as if it is a piece of paper worth nothing,'' she alleged.

Further attacking the PM and his government, she said that while Modi claims to fight for the rights of women, his administration did nothing when women were paraded naked in strife torn Manipur.

''Those in power tell women what to wear, they propagate laws that demand women's movements to be registered with the police, and they claim the right to decide whom women can love and whom they can marry.

''The government protects rapists and defends the oppressors and abusers of women, they vilify victims of heinous crimes, using the entire strength of their administrations to question the characters of victims of abuse. This is the new India,'' she alleged.

Gandhi likened the government to ''thugs'' who oppress those who raise their heads in protest, and alleged that the Centre ''harasses, accuses, and imprisons those who dare to speak against it.'' She further claimed that policies are made for the benefit of the PM's ''monopolist friends'' while the masses are pushed into unemployment and poverty.

''Public assets that belong to the people of India, assets that were built by the sweat and toil of our people, are handed to the Prime Minister’s billionaire friends one after the other with impunity. ''Airports, ports, highways, vast tracts of public land, and whole sectors of industry like cement, power, and coal are virtually controlled by just a handful of businessmen close to the Prime Minister,'' she claimed.

Referring to the electoral bonds, she termed them as a form of ''extortion'' and said the government agencies, meant to protect the law, were being ''turned into unlawful extornists'' and also used to silence voices of dissent.

''In this new nation, corruption is institutionalized.... In this new nation, institutions are brought to their knees, the judiciary is bullied, and those entrusted with the protection of our freedoms are made to fall silent,'' she further alleged.

Gandhi also accused the Centre of being silent on the protests in Ladakh over the alleged Chinese encroachment there and that the voices of the farmers were heard only when the elections were approaching.

''In this new nation, uniformity of culture, religion and language is imposed, and diversity is stamped out for political gain. Laws like the CAA are passed in order to segregate and fracture society.'' ''In this new nation, voices of dissent are silenced. The government harasses, accuses, and imprisons those who dare to speak against it,'' she alleged. She contended that the LS polls were a ''fight for the soul of this great nation.'' ''It is a fight for a democratic India that stood valiantly against tyranny and inequality,'' she said and urged people to ''choose with the force of Dharma in your hearts and the power of truth in your beings, choose wisely, and choose well.''

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)