BHOPAL:
Congress
national general secretary
Priyanka Gandhi
on Thursday hit back strongly at BJP’s accusation that former PM
Rajiv Gandhi
abolished
inheritance tax
in 1985 so that he wouldn’t have to give away part of the wealth he inherited after the death of his mother,
Indira Gandhi
.
“My father inherited
martyrdom
,” she said at an election rally in
MP
’s Morena.
It was her first visit to Madhya Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections. Morena votes in the third phase on May 7.
A week ago, in Morena, PM
Narendra Modi
had said: “It was widely said that when Indira Gandhi passed away and her son Rajiv Gandhi had to get her property, as PM, he abolished the inheritance law of that time to save his property and ensure the money didn’t go to govt.” Priyanka chose Morena for her rebuttal.“At the age of 19 years, I was annoyed with this country when I brought my martyred father’s remains home. I thought it was your duty to keep him safe. You returned me these fragments as his remains. And those fragments were wrapped in the national flag,” she said.
“I know what martyrdom means. Today, I am 52, and I’m saying this for the first time in public. How do I make you understand how much love I have for my country? When Modi ji stands on the dais and calls my father a ‘traitor’, when Modi ji says that my father changed a law to take inheritance from his mother, he will never realise that my father did not get riches and wealth as inheritance. My father got the sentiments of martyrdom as inheritance,” she said. “You would understand as you are the farmer who has irrigated the land of this country with your sweat, you have sent your son to the borders of this country. When your son is martyred, I know how you feel because I feeling the same,” Priyanka said.
“Modi ji who speaks whatever he wants against Indira Gandhi. He can only see a dynasty, he cannot see patriotism and service to the nation. He cannot understand this feeling. They call us traitors, throw us out of our homes. They removed my brother from Parliament and have filed so many cases against him across the country. They can do anything, even kill us, but they cannot take this feeling away from us,” she argued.
