I choose to reject 'gifts' of criticism, says Priyanka on attacks on husband

With the Bharatiya Janata Party stepping up the offensive against her husband, Priyanka Gandhi on Monday said she was not bothered by the personal attacks and that she can choose to reject the ‘gifts’ of criticism. “If they choose to give me gifts, I can choose to reject them. The malice is with them, not me,” she said.

Priyanka, who is campaigning for her mother, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, in Rae Bareli, made the remarks here when asked for her reaction to the attacks against her and her family by the BJP. She said she remained unfazed by criticism and exuded confidence about her mother winning from the constituency. “Personal attacks against me and my family does not bother me,” she said.

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Earlier in the day, BJP leader Arun Jaitley had said she has lowered the political discourse as he attacked her for her remarks comparing the BJP leaders to ‘panic-stricken rats’. “She has compared BJP to 'panic-stricken rats... Mrs Vadra has lowered the quality of political discourse by her comments... If any of my family members started referring to my opponents as rats and reptiles, I surely will be a worried man,” the BJP leader wrote on his blog.

The war of words also came on a day when BJP questioned the silence of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi on the issue of Robert Vadra’s land deals and said it is only adding to the suspicion that the family has something to avoid answering.