My mother's mangalsutra was sacrificed for this country, grandmother gave her gold: Priyanka Gandhi reacts to Modi's remarks

BENGALURU: Priyanka Gandhi on Wednesday responded to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's allegation that Congress looting people's wealth to give it to the 'infiltrators'. Speaking in Bengaluru, she also asked if there were any such incidents in the 55 years of the party's rule.

"He says the Congress wants to take away your gold, your mangalsutra. The country has been independent for 70 years. The Congress ruled for 55 years. Has anyone robbed you of your gold or your mangalsutra? When the war was on, Indira Gandhi gave her gold to the country. My mother's mangalsutra was sacrificed for this country," Priyanka said.

"The Prime Minister says they will cross 400 seats and change the constitution... sometimes he says he is being abused, or talks about religion. You are among the most qualified cities in the world... do you deserve this?" she said.

"If Modi ji had understood the importance of 'Mangalsutra', he would not have said such things. When demonetisation happened, he took away the savings of women. During the farmers' protest, 600 farmers lost their lives, Did Modi-ji think about the 'Mangalsutra' of those widows?" she said.

At the same time, Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that when the Congress was in power, it tried to grab the reservation quota of the backward, scheduled caste and scheduled tribe groups and give it to the Muslim community. "When the Congress came to power at the Center in 2004, it tried to cut the SC-ST reservation in Andhra Pradesh and give it to Muslims. This was a pilot project to be implemented across the country. In 2004 - 2010, Muslim reservation was tried four times in Andhra Pradesh. In 2011, they looked to implement it in the whole country. It did not happen because the Supreme Court intervened. When we came to power, the Muslim quota was abolished", Modi said.