First phase: Priyanka hits streets in Saharanpur for the lone Congress candidate
Carrying Congress’ hopes once again, Masood is pitted against BJP’s Raghav Lakhanpal and BSP’s Majid Ali.
MEERUT: On the day when her brother Rahul Gandhi called Prime Minister Narendra Modi the ‘champion of corruption’, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi also attacked the PM and the Bharatiya Janata Party over electoral bonds as she held a massive roadshow in Saharanpur in support of party candidate Imran Masood on Wednesday.
Imran Masood, known for his infamous ‘Boti-Boti’ remarks for the PM in the 2014 LS polls, is the lone Congress candidate in the fray in the first phase. With not much at stake, the Congress party, an ally of the INDIA bloc, is pushing hard to win the seat, which it last won in 1984.
In the 2014 polls, Imran fought well but had to settle for second place with 34% of the votes, while he slipped to the third spot with 16% of the votes in the subsequent elections. Carrying Congress’ hopes once again, Masood is pitted against BJP’s Raghav Lakhanpal and BSP’s Majid Ali.
Launching a scathing attack on the BJP, Priyanka reiterated that the Modi government had sold the entire country to ‘Adani and Ambani’. She also raised issues of the pitiful condition of MSMEs and the faulty implementation of GST, which had ruined small traders and businessmen.
A huge crowd turned up for the roadshow, which passed through the roads of the old city area. People on both sides of the road cheered for her and Masood as they sat on the rooftop of a moving vehicle. Priyanka acknowledged the cheering crowd, and women showered flower petals on her from the rooftops and balconies of their homes.
Targeting the BJP on the issue of inflation, she said, “Women are finding it difficult to buy new clothes for their children and other essential commodities for their families. The Modi government has written off ₹16 lakh crore of corporates but has denied waiving off the debts of farmers who are in deep trouble.”
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