Priyanka hits out at PM says 'Modi has attacked every institution, media knows it well'

Varanasi, Mar 20: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is campaigning for the grand old party in eastern Uttar Pradesh for Lok Sabha elections 2019, arrived in Varanasi on Wednesday. Notably, Varanasi is Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency. On Tuesday, she faced cries of "Har Har Modi" in Mirzapur district, which is around 75 km from Varanasi.

In her address from Prime Minister's home turf Varanasi, Priyanka Gandhi slammed Narendra Modi for "attacking every institution". She said "People are afraid of speaking against PM Modi but we will fight him.

Reacting to PM Modi's blog post in which he had slammed Congress saying that "the biggest casualty of dynastic politics are institutions, Priyanka said,'' the BJP has systematically attacked every institution in last 5 years including the media. PM should stop thinking people are fools and understand that they see through this.''

Meanwhile, the BJP is likely to announce its first list of candidates for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections after its Central Election Committee (CEC) met for the second time yesterday to finalise names. In Arunachal Pradesh, the BJP, which is part of the ruling coalition, received a jolt after several party members quit and joined its partner National People's Party (NPP) late on Tuesday.

The Congress's general secretary kicked off her party's campaign in Uttar Pradesh on Monday by offering prayers at the Lette Hanuman temple near Sangam.

On Tuesday, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was left red faced as BJP supporters gathered outside a temple in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh raised pro-Modi slogans while the Congress general secretary was offering prayers.

If reports are to be believed, hundreds of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers started shouting slogans hailing Prime Minister Narendra Modi as Gandhi got out of her car outside the Vindhyavasini Devi Temple, eight kilometres from Mirzapur. Reports claimed that the slogans continued even as Gandhi entered the famous temple to pray.

Polling will be held in seven phases in Uttar Pradesh from April 11 to May 19. Results will be announced on May 23.