IANS/Amethi, Uttar Pradesh
Congress Party chief Sonia Gandhi’s daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra yesterday slammed estranged cousin Varun Gandhi for the second time in three days, criticising him for siding with the Bharatiya Janata Party, and "betraying the family."
Speaking to reporters in Amethi, from where her brother and Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is contesting, Priyanka accused the BJP candidate from Sultanpur Lok Sabha constituency of "betraying the family."
Her remarks came hours after Varun Gandhi gave a warning that his silence should not be construed as weakness.
Varun, son of late Sanjay Gandhi, said at a rally after filing his nomination papers that he had never crossed the "Lakshman Rekha" of decency.
Priyanka, however, said the two were not engaged in a "family tea party" but were in the middle of an "ideological war."
A visibly upset Priyanka, said she would not have forgiven even her children if they were with a group that is out to destroy the country's social and secular fabric.
"My father laid down his life for the unity of this country. How can I take all this silently?" she said, referring to slain former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Priyanka said she was not upset over the leak of her speech at a closed door meeting a few days back where she urged people to vote against Varun and bring him back on to the right path.
Meanwhile, BJP’s prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi launched a tirade against Rahul over his allegation that the Gujarat government gave away land to corporate houses at a rate for which one could buy toffee - Re1.
Gandhi also compared the Gujarat model of development to an inflated balloon.
Modi said yesterday: "Will the country choose a person who wants to play with balloon and craves for toffee?"
"I thought this election will be fought on serious issues. On one side we have a galaxy of leaders in the BJP like L K Advani, Sushma Swaraj, Murli Manmohar Joshi and on the other side is a player who is still behaving like a child.
"For 10 days, (the word) balloon was on his lip. Now he speaks about toffee."
He also said Sonia and her son have destroyed the country.
He said Sonia was again leading her party's election campaign after her son failed to woo the electorate.
"But the people of this country have already decided not to be mislead by the mother-son duo," he said.
"They have misled the country and people for a long time. It is enough. We will not allow the mother-son duo to destroy the country any more."
Modi accused Sonia of creating a rift between the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Intelligence Bureau, the country's two most important agencies, "for political reasons."
He appealed to voters in the 18-28 age group to vote for his party to ensure a stable and strong government.
"If you support and vote us, I will change your luck and build a bright future for all of you."
