Minutes before kickstarting the Congress campaign in Jabalpur for the year-end Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Monday offered prayers to the Narmada river, inviting criticism from the ruling BJP, which sought to link her move to the upcoming elections.
Home Minister and state government spokesman Narottam Mishra said Priyanka Gandhi remembers "Narmada Maiya and Ganga Maiya" only when elections draw nearer. “You are an election Hindu, which everyone knows,” he remarked.
“When you took a holy dip in the Ganga, your party got just two seats out of 403 in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls. The Congress will meet the same fate in MP," Mishra told reporters in Bhopal when asked about Priyanka Gandhi's visit to the banks of the Narmada in Jabalpur.
Priyanka Gandhi's move to kickstart Assembly poll campaign with the “Narmada puja” and 'aarti' helped by 101 Brahmins came on the day when Jabalpur city was dotted with images of 'gaada' (mace) of Lord Hanuman and MP Congress chief and former chief minister Kamal Nath being portrayed as 'Hanuman Bhakt.” A 30-feet tall 'gaada' was installed near Shastri Bridge.
The Congress general secretary's brother Rahul Gandhi had performed 'Narmada puja' and 'aarti' in October 2018 -- a month ahead of the MP Assembly polls -- at the same venue where she prayed on Monday.
Priyanka Gandhi paying obeisance to the Narmada has come as a morale booster for party workers who feel her gesture would bring good tidings for the party like it did when Rahul Gandhi worshipped the holy river and weeks later, the Congress was able to form its government in the state (in December 2018).
When the Congress leader was worshipping the Narmada, a big screen at the background of the dais of her rally's venue at Shahid Smarak, about 8km from the river bank from where she kicked off her party's campaign, beamed images of Priyanka Gandhi. While she was praying, Congress leaders stood up and chanted "Jai Narmade."
At the rally, a big 'gaada' (mace) was gifted to Kamal Nath to take on the BJP with Congress MLA and former MP Minister Tarun Bhanot calling the former chief minister a “Hanuman Bhakt.” Bhanot told the gathering Nath was a devout 'Hanuman Bhakt' and the former CM has installed a huge idol of the Hindu deity in Chhindwara, his native district.
In his address, Congress MLA Sanjay Yadav said after Rahul Gandhi worshipped the Narmada in 2018, the party won four Assembly seats, out of eight, in the Jabalpur division. Now, after Priyanka Gandhi's visit to the Narmada, the Congress was going to win all the eight Assembly seats in the Jabalpur division, he claimed.
In his address, Nath said, “ I am proud to be Hindu, but I am not a fool.” According to Congress insiders, the party is going to come up with video clips based on Hindu scriptures to attack the BJP in the run up to the elections.
