State has tradition of raising voice against injustice, says Priyanka Gandhi

Striking an emotional chord with people of Haryana, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi claimed that jawans, kisans and 'pahlwans' had launched a struggle against the injustice done to them by PM Narendra Modi, and urged them to uproot the BJP government from Haryana.

Addressing a rally in the Julana Assembly segment, where the Congress has fielded wrestler-turned-politician Vinesh Phogat, Priyanka alleged that Vinesh's trust was broken in the Olympics. “When she was winning, everybody was happy that she was set to bring a medal for the country. But then what happened? Uska bharosa toda gaya,” she said.

“Why was her trust broken in a foreign land? Because she had raised her voice and launched a fight against injustice to her and her fellow wrestlers,” she said, referring to the wrestlers' agitation in Delhi against former Wrestling Federation of India (WFI) chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, who faced allegations of molestation and harassment.

“But this is the temperament, culture and tradition of Haryana to raise voice against any injustice,” she said. Referring to a sloka from the Gita, she said Haryana was the land where Lord Krishna said whenever there was injustice, He (God) would appear to wage a struggle.

She said Vinesh’s fight was not one woman's struggle, "it was for all of you". She alleged that a similar breach of faith was at all levels — be it jawans, kisans and wrestlers. “Modi knew that by enacting farmer laws, he was set to favour big corporates, but he kept quiet. Farmers sacrificed 750 lives and ensured the withdrawal of the three farm laws,” she said.

“Youth, wrestlers, farmers, women, nobody is spared. BJP people stayed away, but you stood by her. The same thing happened during the farmers' agitation,” she said, adding that it was actually people who held real power.