Priyanka Gandhi defends mother over speech

She said the BJP did not like the speech of Sonia Gandhi because they do not like what she says.

Priyanka Gandhi said the fight this time is for the heart of India and so they (BJP) did not like the speech of Sonia Gandhi.

To a question over whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was taking his own decisions or Sonia Gandhi was the super prime minister after the controversy over the book on the PMO by Sanjaya Baru, Priyanka said it was Manmohan Singh who has been a super PM.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi in an emotional televised appeal to voters urged to make the right decision at the crossroads of history and not all prey to the falsehood of the Opposition led by the BJP calling it divisive.

"Today, our society stands at a cross-roads. The Congress ideology and vision, will continue to take us towards a healthy, free democracy open to the light of change and transformation," said Sonia Gandhi in a TV ad speech on Monday evening.

"Their [BJP] vision, clouded with hatred and falsehood, their ideology, divisive and autocratic, will drive us to the ruination of our Bharatiyata, our Hindustaniyat," said Sonia Gandhi.  She said Congress stands for Indian values.

"What are these values that are the very heart and soul of our motherland? They are Love and Respect, Harmony and Brotherhood. In a word, Non-violence." 

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) senior leader Arun Jaitley  mocked the Congress and called its new slogan as  "Mein Nahin Mom", referring to the Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's attack on the BJP a day ago in a televised speech.

"The only message yesterday's speech of Sonia Gandhi telecasted on paid television time is that Congress party's new slogan now is 'Mein Nahin Mom'," said Jaitley in his blog holding that the campaign has shifted focus from Rahul Gandhi to her mother Sonia Gandhi.

"As the Congress shrinks further, its campaign has resulted in a naught. The campaign is too abstract and confused. The message is not clear. The Congress Party changed track yesterday. Rahul Gandhi led campaign and the accompanying advertisements were given a backseat. The Congress President Sonia Gandhi herself decided to lead from the front. She addressed the country by booking television time on all channels," said Jaitley.

"As polling date approaches closer in every phase, the groundswell becomes clearer. There are two clear trends in the groundswell, its anger against the Congress and the hope in Narendra Modi. My own view is that the actual poll always results in the front runner getting more than what is projected," he wrote.

BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said the speech of Sonia Gandhi is an act of desperation.