Clamour for Priyanka leadership gains currency

CONGRESS MP Imran Masood on Tuesday said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra would prove to be a strong Prime Minister if given the opportunity, arguing that she would respond firmly to violence against religious minorities in Bangladesh, much like her grandmother, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi.

- EXPRESS NEWS SERVICE @ New Delhi

His remarks set off a political sparring match with the BJP and were followed by a public endorsement of Priyanka Gandhi by her husband and businessman Robert Vadra.

Defending Priyanka Gandhi's comments on minority violence in Bangladesh, Masood rejected BJP allegations that she had not spoken strongly enough on the issue. Speaking to news agency ANI, he said: "Is Priyanka Gandhi the Prime Minister? Make her the Prime Minister and see how she will retaliate like Indira Gandhi." Stressing her lineage, Masood added that she was the granddaughter of Indira Gandhi, whose leadership, he said, had a lasting impact on India's adversaries.

Masood's remarks came days after Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress MP from Wayanad, condemned the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das, a Hindu man accused of blasphemy in Bangladesh. In a post on X, the Congress leader described the incident as "disturbing" and