Priyanka Vadra during her election campaign for her brother and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi in Amethi on Thursday.
today reacted sharply to reports that in an interview,
Narendra Modi, the BJP's prime ministerial candidate, said that he thinks of her "like a daughter."
"I am Rajiv Gandhi's daughter," Priyanka, 42, said firmly in Uttar Pradesh this morning. "He died for this country. He cannot be compared in my heart and mind to anyone," she said.
In footage released by Mr Modi's office of the interview, however, the 64-year-old states that he understands Priyanka's need to defend her mother and brother, Sonia and
Rahul Gandhi, the top two leaders of the Congress. "She can say 10 more things but a daughter is a daughter, I won't be upset about it."
The controversy erupted after media reports that Mr Modi's"daughter" remarks, made in an interview to national broadcaster Doordarshan, had been dropped by the channel. Doordarshan officials did not deny that the 35-minute version that aired on Sunday had been trimmed, but they said there was no political motive. Senior executive SM Khan stressed, "There was no deliberate omission or editing. In fact, all points made by Mr Modi were highlighted.
Priyanka's mother, Sonia, is Congress President and her elder brother, Rahul, is leading the party campaign for the national election. Her father, prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated in 1991.
Priyanka is not running for parliament but she is managing the campaigns in Sonia and Rahul Gandhi's constituencies as predictions swirl of a Congress wipe-out and the best-ever performance for the BJP.
In recent weeks, she has forged a strong attack on Mr Modi, 63, after he alleged at election rallies that her husband, Robert Vadra, scored sweetheart land deals in states like Haryana, where the Congress is in power. (
Also read: BJP's sharpest attack yet on Robert Vadra)