Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi delivered a sharp rebuttal to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘mangalsutra’ remark, stating that her grandmother Indira Gandhi donated her gold during a time of war, and her mother Sonia Gandhi’s ‘mangalsutra’ was sacrificed for the nation. Referring to the assassination of her father and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, she said, “My mother’s mangalsutra was sacrificed for this country,” adding that Prime Minister Modi fails to understand the value a ‘mangalsutra’ holds for a woman.
Modi claims that the Congress wants to take away your gold, your mangalsutra. But the country has been independent for 70 years, with the Congress ruling for 55 years. Has anyone robbed you of your gold or your mangalsutra? When the country was at war, Indira Gandhi donated her gold to the nation," she said while addressing a rally in Bengaluru on Tuesday.
Intensifying her criticism of Modi, Priyanka said, “A woman will pledge her gold for the sake of her family. But they won’t understand this,” she said, adding “If Modi knew the value of a mangalsutra, he wouldn’t have spoken like that…”
“When a farmer falls into debt, his wife will pledge her mangalsutra. She’ll pledge it for her children’s wedding or to buy medicines,” she added.
“Where was Modi when demonetisation took away the savings of people? Where was Modi when the Covid-19 lockdown was imposed without any warning and women suffered?” she asked.
Accusing Modi of not addressing people’s problems, the Congress leader urged voters to cast their votes based on their own “lived reality”.
“What did you gain from 10 years of the Modi government? Was there any improvement in your lives? An image of Superman was shown to you every day. But you got a Mehangai-man,” Gandhi said, adding “the truth is that in 10 years, the government didn’t work for you. All policies were made for the PM’s select wealthy friends”.
