Lucknow: Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra seemed to have taken cue from the Narendra Modi playbook when, armed with a broom, she arrived at the Indira Nagar area in Lucknow.
Priyanka, who was taunted by Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the viral video showing her sweeping a room while in custody in Uttar Pradesh earlier this week, accused the BJP leader of disrespecting sweepers. She then got sweeping again, alongside other safai karamcharis (sanitation workers) at the Valmiki basti.
It was a moment reminiscent of Congress leader Mani Shankar Aiyar’s infamous ‘teaseller’ potshot from 2014, which is believed to have acted as a catalyst for widespread sympathy for Modi.
Aiyar said ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha elections that ‘chaiwala’ Modi would never become PM, but could sell tea at a Congress gathering, a reference to the fact that the latter sold tea with his father as a child.
Modi’s past as a teaseller subsequently became a key plank for the BJP campaign, which sought to portray the Congress as elitist.
‘Millions sweep every day’
The viral video of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra emerged Monday, after she was arrested by UP Police while on her way to meet victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
Reportedly shot at the Sitapur Provincial Armed Constabulary guest house, the video showed her sweeping the room, which was allegedly dirty when she arrived. She was released and permitted to meet the victims Wednesday.
On Friday, when asked about the video at an event in Gorakhpur, Yogi said, “Janta unko isi layak banana chahti hai (people want to render her capable of doing this alone).”
Priyanka subsequently reached the Dalit basti at Luv Kush Nagar in Indira Nagar on a surprise visit, where she visited the Valmiki temple and then cleaned the floor.
Speaking to the media later, she said Yogi’s statement was “anti-Dalit” and “anti-women”. “To clean the floor is not a small task. Crores of women do this for cleanliness. How can he say this? I came here at the Valmiki temple to sweep the floor and to change Yogi’s mindset about floor-cleaning. Millions of women and men sweep every day. Those who will disrespect sweepers will have to repent.”
पुलिस हिरासत में कांग्रेस महासचिव श्रीमती @priyankagandhi जी ने सत्याग्रह शुरू किया।
सिर्फ़ एक मांग 'किसानों से मिले बिना वापसी नहीं होगी'
जय जवान, जय किसान#लखीमपुर_खीरी_नरसंहार pic.twitter.com/Zd2ETKmFlx
— UP Congress (@INCUttarPradesh) October 4, 2021
UP Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi said the Yogi government is scared of Priyanka’s “Durga avatar”. “Our leader has started the process of sweeping away the BJP from the state. He is unable to control law & order in UP, that’s why he is using such language for Priyanka Gandhi in frustration.”
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
Also Read: ‘You grow tea, I make tea’: Modi sells his chai wala image at north Bengal rally