Prime Minister Narendra Modi should stop thinking that people are fools and understand that they see through everything, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said on Wednesday.
The Congress leader, who is incharge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, is on a three-day boat journey down the Ganga, meeting people living on the banks of the holy river as part of her outreach ahead of the general election beginning on April 11.
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Priyanka campaigned extensively in Varanasi and the visit added political significance since it was Prime Minister Modi's Lok Sabha constituency.
"The prime minister has attacked every institution in this country for the last five years, including the institution of which all of you are a part," Priyanka Gandhi told reporters.
"So I think the PM should stop thinking that people are fools and understand that they see through all this," she added.
The Congress general secretary went on to say that she is not afraid of being "harassed".
"Even if anything is done, and we are harassed, we will not feel afraid. We will continue our fight against them. The more we are harassed, the stronger will be our fight," she said.
Speaking at a 'chaupal' near a temple in the city late last evening, Gandhi blamed the Modi government for "not doing anything" for the development of the country.
"This government has given only lollipops," she charged.
She said politics should be done for the development of the country.
Talking about employment created during the Congress-led dispensation, she said, "The Congress government had given the biggest employment guarantee programme MGNREGA."
But under the BJP government, she alleged, machines were replacing labourers.
"If the Congress is voted to power, it would work for farmers and the poor," she asserted.
Priyanka's first stop in Varanasi was Assi Ghat, where a huge crowd of supporters gathered to receive her, and the party workers chanted 'Chowkidar Chor Hai’.
Addressing the crowd at Assi Ghat, Priyanka spoke about farmers, youth and women being a distressed lot under the Modi regime.
“Now, the aim of politics is fulfilling one's greed, assuming power and suppressing the people… I urge you to become aware and bring about a change,” she said.
Priyanka paid obeisance at the ancient Kashi Vishwanath Temple. She wrapped up the tour with visits to the families of the CRPF martyrs who were killed in the Pulwama terror attack.
—With inputs from Soni Mishra
