Fatehgarh Sahib/Patiala: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday lashed out at the BJP-led Centre, asking why there is no prosperity in the lives of people if the country's economy is growing at a rapid pace.
Addressing her first poll rally in Punjab in favour of party candidate from Fatehgarh Sahib seat Amar Singh, she also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of "speaking lies and making hollow promises with the public only to capture power".
Attacking the Modi government, she said 70 crore youth are unemployed in the country and unemployment is the highest in 45 years.
She said 30 lakh posts are vacant in the government sector under the Modi regime.
"At stages, he (Modi) makes big claims that the economy is growing at a rapid pace. I want to ask if it is growing so fast and if there is progress in the country then why there is no progress in your (people) lives. Why did your children not get employment?" the Congress general secretary asked.
"And why inflation has gone up too much. If the country is progressing fast then why are steel factories here shutting down. Why the industry is being weakened by imposing GST? There is not even a single scheme for the middle class and for your relief. Progress is only being seen on TV, but no progress is taking place in your lives," she told the gathering.
The Congress leader accused the BJP of not respecting the public at all.
"They do not speak about your problems. They do not tell what they are doing to contain inflation and bring down unemployment," she said.
"They do not tell why women are feeling unsafe in Punjab. They do not tell why the drug problem has increased so much in Punjab," she added.
The Congress general secretary asserted it is only her party which speaks about the public.
"Modi ji can do anything for power," she said and added that the PM removed the "black" farm laws, referring to the now-repealed farm laws, because of elections and votes.
"Whatever lies he puts before you and makes hollow promises only to capture power," she said.
She also alleged that the BJP tried to topple state governments.
She further alleged that the BJP took donations from companies, which were raided by the CBI, ED and Income Tax department.
Without naming anyone, she referred to the registration of an FIR against the managing editor of Ajit Group of Newspapers Barjinder Singh Hamdard.
"You have seen here (Punjab) what happened to Ajit Newspaper," she said.
The Punjab Vigilance bureau has registered a case against Hamdard and 25 others in connection with alleged misappropriation of funds in the construction of Rs 315 crore Jang-e-Azadi memorial at Kartarpur in Jalandhar.
"You need to understand what is happening at the Centre and what is happening in your state and how you are being misled at every level, " she told the gathering.
In Patiala, the Congress general secretary addressed an all-women rally where she hit out at the BJP on the issues of inflation and unemployment.
"Today, the biggest problem of women is inflation. You (women) go to shops and you cannot buy many things. Everything has turned costly," she said.
Attacking Prime Minister Modi, she said that he was saying, "If you have buffaloes, the Congress will steal."
"In order to create an illusion among the women, he would say that the Congress will conduct an X-ray and will steal your 'mangalsutra'," she said.
"He would say they (Congress) are anti-Hindu and it is written in our manifesto that it will take your jewellery and give it to others," she said.
"Whereas our party is a party which is of Mahatma Gandhi. His entire freedom movement was based on teachings of Bhagavad Gita. It was based on the principles of truth and non-violence and teachings of our centuries-old Hindu religion. Then how can we be opposed to religion," she asked.
By saying such a thing, the PM is thinking that all the women in the country are fools, she said.
The Congress leader said Prime Minister Modi did not utter a single word on bringing any policy on how to make the women safe and empowered.
Referring to Prime Minister Modi's remarks that he made in Bihar, she asked him to maintain the dignity of his post.
"What he said in Bihar yesterday, I cannot say this here. We are his rivals even then we respect the post. There is a dignity of the post," she said.
She also spoke about her party's poll promises, including the Mahalakshmi scheme and farm debt waiver.