Congress’s Priyanka Gandhi Vadra today said her father, former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, had not inherited wealth but martyrdom from his mother. “This is a feeling that Narendra Modi would never understand,” she said, shredding the Prime Minister’s comments on dynastic politics and inheritance tax.

PM Modi had said last week that Rajiv Gandhi had abolished inheritance tax after coming to power so that the wealth he had inherited from his mother would not be taxed.

Today, speaking at a rally in Morena, Madhya Pradesh, Ms Gandhi Vadra said, “When Modi-ji stands on the dais and calls my father a traitor, when he says he changed a law to take his inheritance from his mother… he would not understand that my father did not get any wealth by way inheritance, he only got the thoughts of martyrdom”.

“At the age of 19, when I brought home the mangled remains of my father, I was upset with this country. I thought, ‘I had sent my father. It was your job to ensure his safety. I placed him in your care, but you returned me his remains wrapped in the national flag’. I had misgivings. I know what is the meaning of martyrdom. Today I am 52 and this is the first time I’m talking about it in public,” she said.

She said when 40 soldiers died in Pulwama in 2029, she had visited some of their families in Uttar Pradesh. There, the children of the martyrs told her that they want to join the army. “There was one girl whose brother was in the Air force. She said ‘Didi I want to join the air force and become a pilot’,” Ms Gandhi Vadra said.

“This is the feeling of martyrdom. Modi-ji will never understand this. Modi-ji says whatever he likes about a martyr like Indira-ji. He only sees dynastic politics, he never sees patriotism, service to the nation. He would never understand this,” she added.

At a rally in Morena last week, PM Modi had said that earlier, half of a deceased person’s wealth went to the government by law. “There was talk then that Indira-ji had willed her wealth in her son Rajiv Gandhi’s name. To save the money going to the government (after her death), then PM Rajiv Gandhi abolished the inheritance tax,” he said, ripping into the Congress over wealth redistribution and inheritance tax.

After benefitting from the abolition of estate duty, the Congress now wants to bring back the levy, he said.

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Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose has denied allegations of sexual harassment by an employee of the Raj Bhavan, calling it an “engineered narrative”. “If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal,” he said.

The Raj Bhavan, in a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, said: “To the Raj Bhavan staff who expressed solidarity with Hon’ble Governor Dr. C. V. Ananda Bose against whom some derogatory narratives were circulated by two disgruntled employees as agents of political parties, Hon’ble Governor said”.

“Truth shall triumph. I refuse to be cowed down by engineered narratives. If anybody wants some election benefits by maligning me, God Bless them. But they cannot stop my fight against corruption and violence in Bengal.”

— Raj Bhavan Kolkata (@BengalGovernor) May 2, 2024

The allegations surfaced ahead of a visit by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. PM Modi is expected to reach Kolkata tonight and will be staying at the Raj Bhavan.  

Police sources said this afternoon, a woman claiming to be a temporary staff member attached to the Peace Room in the Raj Bhavan had approached the police post located inside the Governor’s House and accused Mr Bose of molesting her.

She was taken to the local police station at Hare Street, where she filed a complaint, in which she accused the Governor of molesting her.

The allegations have come as a boon to the state’s ruling Trinamool Congress, which had been smarting over the sex harassment allegations against its now suspended leader Sheikh Shahjahan at Sandeshkhali. The Governor was among the first to speak to the women from Sandeshkhali and made harsh remarks about the state government.

Senior Trinamool leader Shashi Panja said, “We are utterly shocked. The same Governor who reached Sandeshkhali talking about women’s rights has now been involved in a rather shameful incident. He has sabotaged the reputation of his post and his chair”.

“Nothing can be more shameful than a Governor getting involved in such heinous crimes and that too in the Raj Bhawan… Today the PM is coming to the state and he will stay at the Raj Bhawan. We want to know his reaction to the matter,” she added.

Journalist-turned-politician Sagarika Ghosh called the matter “shocking and horrifying”.

BIG. Bengal governor CV Ananda Bose accused of molesting a woman. How utterly APPALLING and HORRIFYING. Ahead of @narendramodi visit to Kolkata who is supposed to stay overnight at Raj Bhavan, a woman has alleged that she was molested while she went to meet the Governor at Raj…

— Sagarika Ghose (@sagarikaghose) May 2, 2024

The issue comes amid a massive row about sexual assault allegations against a Karnataka MP, over which the BJP is facing criticism from the Opposition.

Prajwal Revanna, a leader of BJP ally Janata Dal Secular and the grandson of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda, has been accused of raping multiple women.  

The state leaders of the BJP have distanced themselves from the matter and the Hasan MP, said to be in Germany at the moment, has been suspended by his party.