Combative yet calm: Decoding Priyanka Gandhi’s maiden Parliament speech | India News

NEW DELHI: Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday took the centrestage in Lok Sabha with her maiden speech in Parliament. Participating in the two-day Constitution debate, Priyanka led the Congress charge against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused the NDA government of making every effort to dismiss the Constitution in the last 10 years.
In her 32-minute speech, Priyanka Gandhi was combative yet restrained, never raising her voice, as she raised the opposition’s key issues including BJP’s alleged attempts to change the Constitution, “growing monopoly” of the Adani Group, atrocities on women, incidents of violence in Sambhal and Manipur and the demand for a nationwide caste census.
Priyanka’s mild but effective style once again brought to fore the similarities that she share with her grandmother Indira Gandhi. When asked about her speech, Congress leader and brother Rahul Gandhi said, “Wonderful speech … Better than my maiden speech, let us put it like that.”
Watch: Indira Gandhi’s historic speech in Parliament after the 1971 triumph

Dressed in a dark blue saree, Priyanka stood up in the House after union minister Rajnath Singh and spoke with ease and clarity, just like her grandmother, drawing from her personal meetings with victims of the Unnao rape case and the Sambhal violence.
The Congress leader spoke in Hindi and raised the issue of recent violence in Sambhal and Manipur, Lok Sabha results and the Constitution to corner the BJP government. Unlike brother Rahul, who is often seen speaking in an extempore manner and using theatrical tactics like using placards, images, and a Constitution copy to get attention, Priyanka stood straight in the fourth row with glasses on and spoke only from the written material.
She diverted only once, to call out a member as she spoke about the alleged custodial death of Arun Valmiki in Agra in October. “Aap hass rahe hai, lekin yeh gambhir baat hai (You are laughing but this is a serious matter),” she said before continuing her speech.
Priyanka’s maiden speech was also a continuation of Rahul Gandhi’s earlier speeches as the leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha. Like her brother, she invoked religions — Hinduism, Islam, Buddism, Sikhism — to point out that conversation and debates have been part of our culture for thousands of years.
Watch: Priyanka Gandhi’s maiden Lok Sabha speech

Like Rahul Gandhi, she also accused the BJP of creating “atmosphere of fear”. “BJP cannot maintain unity, we saw it in Sambhal and Manipur. They have created an atmosphere of fear,” Priyanka said.
Earlier in his first speech as leader of the opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul had also invoked the image of Lord Shiva with the snake around his neck and accused BJP and creating an “atmosphere of fear and violence inside the Chakravyuh” to entrap common people re-iterated ‘Daro Mat, Darao Mat’ (Don’t fear, don’t create fear).
Extending the same sentiment, Priyanka said, “Today people are intimidated from speaking the truth. Be it a journalist or an opposition leader or a university professor everyone’s mouth is shut. Opposition leaders are investigated by ED, CBI, IT and are sent to jail by making false allegation.”
“This government has spared no one. Their media machine spreads lies and makes accusations,” she said.
Watch: Rahul Gandhi’s first speech as leader of opposition in Lok Sabha

The Nehru-Gandhi legacy and the Emergency

Priyanka Gandhi also pointedly questioned BJP’s accountability, particularly their habit of attributing issues to Jawaharlal Nehru, while delivering a sharp critique of its frequent criticism of India’s first prime minister.
“Our Constitution laid the foundation of economic justice, distributing land to farmers, the poor and the needy…. Whose name is often used by them (BJP) to save themselves, he (Jawaharlal Nehru) created many PSUs and institutions such as HAL, BHEL, SAIL, GAIL, ONGC, NTPC, Railways, IIT, IIM,” she said.
She emphasised that while her great-grandfather’s name could be removed from textbooks, his contributions to India’s independence and development remain indelible.

Regarding the Emergency, she suggested the BJP should acknowledge and express regret for their missteps.
“My colleague in the ruling party recounted the past, this happened, that happened… what happened in 1975. You also learn from it, you also apologise for your mistakes,” she said.
Priyanka Gandhi also issued a challenge to the BJP to conduct elections using ballot papers, suggesting this would reveal the true situation.
The Congress leader criticised the prime minister’s approach, stating, “There used to be a story that the king used to go among the people in disguise to listen to criticism. Today’s king is also very fond of changing his disguise… But he neither has the courage to go among the public nor to listen to criticism.”
“The ‘suraksha kavach’ of unity is being broken. The prime minister touches his forehead to the Constitution but when there are cries for justice from Sambhal, Hathras and Manipur, there is not a wrinkle on his forehead,” the Wayanad MP said.
“It seems Prime Minister Modi hasn’t understood that ‘Bharat ka Samvidhan’ is not ‘Sangh ka Vidhan’,” Priyanka Gandhi said.