UP elections 2022: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the BJP government has ignored farmers
The BJP government is inaugurating big projects just ahead of elections in Uttar Pradesh and their intention is very clear, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra told NDTV today during a campaign stop.
"Why was Jewar airport inaugurated just before elections? They are in power for five years. Why didn't they inaugurate Jewar airport before? They kept it for the elections," Priyanka Gandhi said, referring to the project in UP's Gautam Buddh Nagar that was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November last year, billed to become Asia's largest airport.
The Congress leader said the BJP government led by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath only works for a select few people and has ignored farmers and small businesses. She pointed at the Union Budget as proof that nothing substantial was announced to help the poor and farmers.
She said the BJP has been raising issues that do not concern the people and ignoring important matters like unemployment.
"Farmers are a big factor in these elections. The plight of the farmers is bad; they are not getting fertilizer. People standing in line for fertilizer have died," Priyanka Gandhi said.
The Congress has given an election promise that it would fill 12 lakh vacant posts in UP. "Unemployment is a big problem in Uttar Pradesh. The entire burden of economic crisis is on women. It is very important to increase the participation of women in politics," the Congress General Secretary said.
"The women policemen who are here have their homes somewhere, and their posting is done somewhere... It was women policemen who arrested me at 4 am in Lakhimpur Kheri... If the politics of communalism is to be changed, then women must be brought forward. In police recruitment, it is necessary that 25 per cent of the recruits are women," Priyanka Gandhi said, adding the Congress, if voted to power, would bring a law that would suspend a police officer for not filing first information report, or FIR, in crimes against women.
Priyanka Gandhi was on a door-to-door campaign in Sikandarabad, Anupshahr and Syana assembly segments of Bulandshahar district in western UP.
The BJP's focus in the west UP campaign is Mathura, one of the three key temple towns after Ayodhya and Varanasi. Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have extensively covered this region, which has over 100 assembly seats and will see voting in three of the seven-phase elections starting February 10. Counting is on March 10.