Congress general secretary and Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was seen displaying her support for Palestine by carrying a bag embellished with “Palestine” as she arrived in Parliament for the winter session on Monday.
The bag featured striking symbols associated with Palestinian solidarity, including a watermelon, a known symbol of resistance in the region.
A photo of Priyanka Gandhi sporting the bag was posted on X by Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed. The gesture drew sharp criticism from BJP leader Sambit Patra. “The Gandhi family has always been carrying the bag of appeasement. The appeasement bag is the reason behind their rout in elections,” Patra said during a press briefing.
The Congress general secretary has been vocal in condemning Israel’s actions in Gaza, expressing solidarity with Palestinians and calling for a ceasefire.
Last week, Abed Elrazeg Abu Jazer, Charge d’affaires of the Palestine Embassy in New Delhi, had met Gandhi to congratulate her on her recent victory in Kerala’s Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency.
BJP’s IT department head Amit Malviya called Priyanka Gandhi an even ‘bigger disaster than Rahul Gandhi.’ “At the end of this Parliament session, observe a two minute silence for everyone in the Congress, who believed Priyanka Vadra was the long-awaited solution, they should have embraced earlier. She is a bigger disaster than Rahul Gandhi, who thinks sporting a bag in support of Palestine in the Parliament, is about fighting patriarchy. That is right. Crass communal virtue signaling to Muslims is now cloaked as stance against patriarchy! Make no mistake, Congress is the New Muslim League,” he said in a post on X.
Adding to the backlash on social media, Andhra Pradesh BJP President Vishnu Vardhan Reddy called out Priyanka Gandhi for being silent on attacks on Hindu minorities in Bangladesh but carrying on with appeasement politics with the Palestine bag.
“While Hindus are being persecuted mercilessly in Pakistan and Bangladesh, Priyanka Gandhi’s priority is appeasement politics by standing with Palestine. Her silence on Hindu suffering speaks volumes about her intents and how she treats Hindus as worse than 3rd class citizens,” said Reddy on X.
BJP MP Gulam Ali Khatana also took a dig at her. “People do such things for news. When they have been rejected by the people, they resort to such actions,” he told the news agency IANS.
In response to the backlash, Priyanka Gandhi said that the criticism was “typical patriarchy” where she was “being told what to wear and what not to wear”. “I will wear what I want… I don’t subscribe to this patriarchy,” she told the media reporters outside the parliament.
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