In a rare return to the campaign trail, Priyanka Gandhi on Friday lashed at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) frontrunner Narendra Modi, accusing him of giving state-owned land at throwaway prices to close friends in Gujarat, Times of India reported.
Tearing into the Gujarat model of development in which “thousands of acres” of land has been given to “friends” of chief minister Narendra Modi at “throwaway prices” Priyanka accused the BJP of treating the country as a “classroom”.
Campaigning for her mother, Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, she also took a swipe at the BJP leader for his ‘ABCD’ and ‘RSVP’ jibes and said he should instead tell people what he planned to do for them.
Priyanka said that people possess an unmatched understanding and they knew about Modi’s Gujarat model of development “where you (Modi) gave thousands of acres of land to your friends.”
Modi should tell people what is the situation of farmers and workers under his model or what had he done for women, she said.
Priyanka said any leader whether from her own party or from any other should speak about what they would do for the people.
She said Congress ideology had always respected the country’s unity and tradition of generosity.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 26th, 2014.
COMMENTS (31)
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Realist The daia bandied about in India including by Dreze and Sen are irresponsible. I hold no brief for Modi. But I have been working on development indicators as well as policy for over 3 decades. Unlike Karnataka ot TamilNadu and Kerala which have less tan 2 % tribal population Gujarat has about 15%. It is extremely difficult to bring them up in terms of social/econ indicators You will the same thing in states with a large tribal population. The North East has tribals' but they gt a lot of extra resources. Moreover most portions of Rajasthan had originally been Kingdoms(often not well governed(eg Travancore-Cochin) and were truly backward when Gujarat was formed). But there could be something that Modi has done to get reelected by his people with no complaints of electoral violence or bootrigging/capturing!
@Guggunath Rajasthani: Untouchability is outlawed in India, the Dalits are so called because of what they had to suffer intje past. Today they are beneficiaries of affirmative action in education and government jobs.
The Supreme Court has said that land acquisition process in Gujarat was a model that should be followed by other states. There is no evidence of crony capitalism. http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/land-act-a-fraud-learn-from-gujarat-says-sc/827449/
Yes there is capitalism. All incentives for investors in Gujarat are policy driven and not case by case.
@c: never in the history of Pakistan a chief minister organized massacre of thousands of innocent unarmed children, women and men belonging to minorities. Such crimes are committed by terrorists aided by india and they are fought by government and people of Pakistan instead of making their gang leader prime minister of the country
@Rohit: calling indians Pakistanis!!!
@guggunath Rajasthani. Hindus are looking into it. India has reservation and quota for backward caste in parliament,jobs,education,health,scholarship etc. I am an OBC myself benefited from it. Btw India is a secular country by constitution. And every religion god is our god worshiped in different forms and practices to us that's what we believe in our religion.
@Guggunath Rajasthani: Buddha was a prince from Nepal? The region known as Nepal became a poltical entitiy only in the 14th century. Before that it was ruled by the same Hindu/Dharmic kingdoms that ruled the region that is India. When Buddha was born, if he was born in Kapilavastu or Lumbini at all, the region was a Vedic period kingdom ruled by the Shakya from Ayodhya. Throughout history, the concept of Hind or India has been to imply the region of South Asia. Perhaps you should educate yourself on the history of South Asia and the Rig Veda before posting "expert" comments.
and madam how did your husband acquire wealth and properties-let us know?
@John: The human development index in Gujarat is far below other states like Kerala,Tamilnadu and Karnataka.Child malnutrition,literacy and medical facilities is also below Kerala and Karnataka.By what stretch of imagination are you stating that Gujarat is the best state in India.
Watching news stories emanating in the past few days, I am appalled by the Congress party's shamelessness in throwing unfounded allegations at others while they keep mum or obfuscate matters when it comes to their own misdeeds.
Please let us know how her sister in law, father in law and brother in law died?
@rohit950723: Buddha did not want to be designated a God. He was afraid this will happen after his death. He was a prince from Nepal. The Hindus should look at the Caste system before they proceed any further on waxing poetic on 'Secularism'. The Dalits, the untouchables,....
A country where the democratically elected government is having talks with Taliban 24/7, is busy posting propaganda against an honest politician from India. Heh!
Modi has demolished several Hindu's temple & at the same time several mosques has been constructed in Gujrat. Why paid media is silent on that
@Nadir..Our country, India is secular & will remain so as Hinduism is itself secular. As we have the concept of multiple gods so For us, Buddha is a god, Mahavira is a God & Jesus christ is a God. But a large chunk of Indian muslims are not secular. Look at Kashmir. It is very difficult for any non-muslim to stay there. That is why people doubt majority of the Muslims & are scared of them.They can't think beyond their religion. Large chunk of them are illiterate & semi-literate. They will take another 100 years to become secular.
Atleast Modi gave land to industrialist in an open manner which enabled them Create factories and in turn give jobs to thousands of people.
Could Bianca Gandhi tell about how Haryana govt gave land at throwaway prices to her husband Robert vadra as he was a 'poor farmer ' . And how common man is benefitted by the fact that he and Sheila dixit's son owns half of malls in Gurgaon.
Robert vadra , an 8th class dropout became a billionaire even faster than mark zuckerburg did
She should add her own husband Robert Vadera to this list of people who benefited by buying land off the government at throw away prices. Modis cronies are not any exception. Rather they are the rule. Ms Gandhi is just not willing to accept the fact that her hubby is a crook.
@Nadir: By your definition he should become the Prime Minister of Pakistan
why would you be calling someone like Modi as the Muslim Killer. Just look around many more muslims have been butchered by their fellow followers of Islam.
To verify my claim, all you need to do is pull your news paper for last one year out. Karachi itself will suffice for the number that you are looking for.
I would like to raise this point to all muslims and Pakistanis who are available on this platform, so I request you not to delete my comment.
@Nadir:
Yes what you said is true for Pakistan because thousands of each year killed due to sectarian violence alone forget about karachi target killings, balochistan missing person and law and order situation in punjab no need to mention kp
http://tribune.com.pk/story/699421/sectarian-violence-over-2000-people-killed-in-5-years-says-interior-ministry/
http://tribune.com.pk/story/699865/violence-against-pakistan-minorities-rising-alarmingly-rights-group/
Looking forward to the day Narendra Modi will meet Heena Rapppannni.What could conspire among them would be anybodies guess.
@nadir- yes we Indians are all of that. I'm glad ur elders made the right choice and took you all to a safer, prosperous and stronger pakistan.
Gujarat is the best state in india and modi always have a vision.
Priyanka Vadra talking about land being given away??? Now that's a joke. There was a joke going around Gurgaon near Delhi some time back. It goes like this.
One guy says to another "I heard they are renaming Gurgaon as Jamaica" Other guy: Really??? First Guy: "Yes since Gurgaon mein Sab Kuch to Jamai Ka hai"
@Nadir: You perfectly described all Pakistanis.
I'm sure MODI is more famous in Pakistan than anything else.
Every anti-modi statements appear on ET. ET why you are so biased... You can find 1000's of mis deeds done by congress which never appear in ET.
You don't have to lie to practice propaganda. Just print stories favouring one side and people will begin to think the other side the devil incarnate.
While there was a news item in WSJ about the way Priyanka Vadra's husband got rich, I have not seen it been reported in ET.
Or, the RSVP remark which is mentioned in the article.
But, Priyanka alleges something and its here..
But demonising Modi and the Hindu Right, which like the Right in Pakistan has every reason to exist, ET is contributing to the hatred which is consuming Pakistan.
The sad thing is Modi is has done nothing that Jinnah and Suhrawardy have not done. Yet, Modi is painted as the devil, Jinnah remains the symbol of secularism.
Let Priyanka Vadra lists all the land deals during Modi regime and from before. Let her also list the beneficiaries of land deals between Robert Vadra, DLF and the benefits by them. Sonia's campaign didnt work, Rahul's didnt work, Now Priyanka is trying her hand. But come clean on Vadra first before accusing others. By the way, why is that Sonia did not even want to give her passport copy for a court case in US. She can give it in a tight security format. Will anyone come clean on that . What is Sonia hiding .
I feel some sympathy for the Congress. They have the largest political organization in the country but they have to bring in yet another Nehru-Gandhi to take on Modi. As regards sale of land to industrialists, the Indian Supreme Court is on record saying that Gujarat has the best policy among states. The best way to make a realistic comparison is to look at prices for similar land sale in other states and also by other regimes in Gujarat.
"fascist" "full of spite" "sectarian" "murderer" and "corrupt" leader reflects his people