Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said yesterday that she has asked the party workers to campaign hard as the coming Lok Sabha elections are of national importance to “save” the country.
Speaking to reporters after holding a marathon meeting with the party workers for over five-and-a-half hours, Vadra said: “I have not told the party workers that (Congress chief ) Rahul Gandhi will become the prime minister after the elections.
“But I have asked them to campaign properly and go to every house and tell that this election is to save the country. In this election, the victory of the country is more important than the victory of Rahul Gandhi.” 
Her remarks came shortly after many party workers who attended the meeting claimed that she had told them to campaign properly as after winning the elections, Rahul Gandhi will become the prime minister.
Answering a question on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) describing the NYAY scheme announced by Rahul Gandhi a bluff, she said: “Those who bluff are now saying like this. Whatever the Congress promised, it has delivered. We waived farmers’ loans in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan as promised after coming to power in those states.” 
She also said that a lot needs to be done to eradicate poverty from the country.
Slamming Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, the Congress general secretary said, “No government has performed as badly as this government.” The Congress leader also accused the Modi government of politicising the issues of national security.
“A lot of issues have been politicised which should not have happened. And I am saying this repeatedly wherever I am going that real issues should be discussed,” she said, referring to Modi’s announcement yesterday that India became “a space superpower” by becoming the fourth country to acquire anti-satellite capability.
Congratulating the scientists for achieving this feat, Gandhi said, “It’s a wonderful achievement. I am very proud of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) which was founded by Jawaharlal Nehru.” 
Asked about contesting the Lok Sabha polls, she said, “I have not decided yet. If my party asks me to contest, I will. My wish is to campaign for the party.” 
Gandhi arrived in Uttar Pradesh on a three-day visit early yesterday. Clad in a blue sari, she arrived at the Chaudhary Charan Singh airport in Lucknow to kick start her campaign covering Amethi. 
During her campaign yesterday, a young Congress worker, who was on a video call with his friend, came close to Vadra’s car and requested her to speak to his friend. And much to everybody’s surprise, she readily obliged.