PM Modi should imbibe qualities of courage, determination from Indira Gandhi: Priyanka Gandhi
says, PM Modi's election speeches are hollow talk
Nandurbar (Maharashtra), May 11: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday dubbed Prime Minister Narendra Modi's election speeches as "hollow talk", and said he should imbibe qualities like courage and determination from former PM Indira Gandhi.
Speaking at a rally here to drum up support for Congress candidate Gowaal Padvi from the Nandurbar Lok Sabha seat in Maharashtra, a day after PM Modi addressed a public meeting in this tribal-dominated constituency, she accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of not respecting the culture and tradition of adivasis (tribals).
"All that Modiji speaks is 'khokhli baatein' (hollow talk) that does not carry any weight. Yesterday, he said he respects Shabri. So why was he silent when several Shabris suffered atrocities in Unnao an Hathras? Why didn't he raise a finger when women wrestlers were on the streets protesting against the harassment, but the BJP gives ticket to the son of the accused person," she said referring to BJP leader Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who is facing sexual harassment charges.
Lord Ram respected the common people and was committed to fulfilling their wishes, she said.
"What kind of leader do you want? The one who walks for 4,000 km and comes to you to understand your problems or a leader on whose kurta you will not find marks of dust and is scared to come near you. Do you want a leader who wipes your tears or the one who sheds crocodile tears on stage? Do you want a leader who is fearless and speaks the truth irrespective of the pressure or the one who lies throughout," she asked.
She also asked people if they want politics of principles, service and dedication or politics of power and self glory.
Invoking her family's old ties with Nandurbar, she said her grandmother and former PM Indira Gandhi always began her election campaigns from this place.
"She would preserve whatever you gave to her out of love. My mother learnt how to respect you from Indira Gandhi. Sonia Gandhi worked to safeguard your rights over water and forests," she said.
Indira Gandhi used to visit people's houses with bowed head to understand their problems, she said, adding that Rahul Gandhi went across the country to understand people's aspirations and feelings.
"But show me one photograph of Modi ji visiting the houses of tribals and poor people to understand their problems. He comes to you only to achieve his political motives. If the PM said Rs 15 lakh will be deposited in your bank accounts and two crore people will get employment, it should have been done in 10 years," she said.
The Congress general secretary said it is the duty of political leaders to respect the culture and tradition of adivasis, she said, adding that the BJP does not have any respect for these things.
"President Droupadi Murmu, who belongs to the adivasi community, was neither allowed to inaugurate the new Parliament building nor participate in the consecration ceremony of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. When it comes to actually giving respect, Modi ji backs out," she alleged.
"He says he is fighting alone against corruption...You (PM) have all the power and official machinery at your disposal. Your party leaders say you are the biggest leader in the world enjoying support of heads of state across the globe...You cry like a child during elections saying you have been subjected to abuse.... Have guts Modiji, this is public life," she said.
"Learn from Indira Gandhi...The woman, like Durga, who broke Pakistan into two. Learn from her bravery, courage and determination. But when you call her anti-national, what can you learn from her," she said.
Instead of listening to people's hardships, the prime minister complains about how he was being targeted, Gandhi alleged.
"Politics is a medium of serving people, while Modiji has made politics a means to gain power for himself," she said.
Describing PM Modi as the "messiah" of billionaires and not of the poor, she accused him of lowering the dignity of the top post.
"It is time to see the reality and vote accordingly. Choose your government carefully, choose what kind of leader and government you want. If you make a wrong decision, no one can stop the direction in which the country is going," she told the gathering.
She said the foundation of Congress' politics is to walk on the path of truth and keeping in mind that people of India are supreme.
That foundation was laid down by Mahatma Gandhi and several leaders of the Congress have followed that principle, she said.
"Why do several BJP leaders speak of changing the Constitution. It is because they have been allowed by PM Modi," she claimed.
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Huge turnout amidst SIR shadow caps ballistic battle for Bengal
Kolkata (PTI): The West Bengal assembly polls ended on Wednesday with what the election watchdog said was the state's highest-ever voter turnout of 92.84 per cent, leading to mouth-watering anticipation ahead of the announcement of results on Monday as both contenders sounded sanguine about their victory prospects.
Wednesday's second phase saw a 92.48 per cent turnout. The concluding phase covering 142 constituencies in south Bengal appears poised to match the first phase's record voter participation of 93.19 per cent by the time final numbers are collated.
The figures put the combined poll percentage over the two-phases at 92.84 per cent. The first phase of polling was held on April 23.
"This is the highest-ever recorded poll participation since Independence in West Bengal," it said.
The capital Kolkata recorded a turnout of 88.59 per cent, with Purba Bardhaman district topping the charts at 93.78 per cent.
The scale of participation sent out an overarching political message — practically every single eligible voter in the state felt personally invested in the electoral process and its outcome. They turned out in numbers large enough to make every narrative contested and every claim of momentum politically loaded. If the first phase tested whether the BJP could retain its north Bengal citadel, the second and final round was always the real battle for the saffron party on whether it could breach the ruling TMC’s southern fortress of Kolkata, Howrah, Hooghly, Nadia, North and South 24 Parganas and Purba Bardhaman.
At the centre of the larger political fight stood Bhabanipur, no longer merely a south Kolkata constituency but Banerjee’s political refuge, her emotional home turf and the BJP’s chosen psychological battlefield.
Banerjee, 71, seeking a fourth consecutive term after 15 years in power, faced Leader of Opposition Suvendu Adhikari in a prestige battle widely seen as a symbolic rematch of Nandigram, where Adhikari had defeated her in 2021 after crossing over from the TMC to the BJP.
Five years later, the duel shifted to Banerjee’s own bastion. For the TMC, retaining Bhabanipur is about protecting the chief minister’s authority in her own backyard. For the BJP, breaching it would puncture the aura of invincibility around Bengal’s most powerful political figure.
The constituency witnessed nearly 87 per cent polling, sharply up from around 61 per cent in the 2021 assembly polls and 57 per cent in the bypoll that brought Banerjee back to the House.
Banerjee – who usually votes later in the day and prefers staying indoors on the day of polls – broke convention and hit the ground before 8 am, moving through Chetla, Padmapukur and Chakraberia areas following complaints of alleged intimidation of local TMC leaders.
As she sat outside a booth amid heavy deployment of central forces, Adhikari arrived there and declared, "I will not allow any hooliganism." He opposed Banerjee moving around with "50-60 people" with her.
Banerjee accused the BJP of trying to "rig" the election by using central forces, election observers and officials.
"The BJP wants to rig this election. Polls in Bengal are usually peaceful. Is there a goonda raj here?" she said, alleging intimidation of TMC polling agents and late-night visits by CRPF personnel to party workers’ homes.
"The atrocities by the central forces are unprecedented. What is happening is not at all free and fair polls. But despite all this, we have full faith that we will win," she said after casting her vote.
Adhikari dismissed the charges as "frustration", claiming Banerjee had realised that "not a single vote was coming her way".
Tension flared again in Kalighat when Adhikari visited another booth, and TMC workers raised slogans against him. Police resorted to a lathi-charge to disperse the crowd as BJP supporters answered with counter-slogans. Reports of sporadic tension were also received from some other areas amid sights of long queues at polling stations, booth-level flare-ups, and political bickering.
In Kolkata's Entally, BJP candidate Priyanka Tibrewal alleged that the TMC's polling agents tried to assault her after she objected to overcrowding inside a booth and a lack of voter privacy.
In Panihati, BJP candidate and the R G Kar victim's mother, Ratna Debnath, faced protests, while her party colleague in Basanti, Bikash Sardar, alleged that "200 to 250 TMC goons" attacked his vehicle and assaulted his driver.
The TMC, meanwhile, accused the central forces of exercising brute force on the general voters at Falta's Belsingha village, especially women, who were beaten up during a move to disperse a crowd from near a polling station.The party also alleged CAPF high-handedness on women and a four-year-old child at Sathachhia in Howrah and on villagers at Ausgram in Purba Bardhaman district.
"In the name of ensuring security, central force jawans are not sparing even women who were brutally lathi-charged. TMC protests this highhandedness of the male jawans who exercised brute force on unarmed villagers. We draw the EC's attention to such illegal actions of the CAPF and ask the poll body to issue cease-and-desist orders against such use of force. We believe, people of Bengal will respond to this on EVMs," Anirban Banerjee, party spokesperson, said.
The BJP alleged that in several polling stations in Falta, the option to vote for the party was blocked using a tape over EVM poll buttons, and demanded repolls in the affected booths.
The state’s Chief Electoral Officer Manoj Agarwal said repolling was likely to be announced in booths where EVMs were found tampered with. However, the order will only be issued after authorities receive reports from the district election officer or election observers regarding allegations of EVM tampering, such as using tapes or a blot of ink, he said.
