On the last day of the 2019 election campaign, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra spoke to Sunetra Choudhury about the big controversies of the day, her political debut, and the possibility of seeking election to the Lok Sabha. Edited excerpts:
What is your reaction to the Prime Minister’s remark today that he can’t forgive the remark by Pragya Thakur that Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse was a patriot?
It’s a cop-out. You are the Prime Minister of the country, there is a question of somebody stating that the person who killed the founder of this country and created its democratic foundation, is a patriot. It’s not enough to say that in your heart, you will not forgive them. You are a political leader, you have to state your political position. What is your position on the killer of Mahatma Gandhi?
I believed very firmly that my children should have as normal and simple a childhood as possible. Bringing up children in Delhi, as it is, is full of challenges.
Rahul and I grew up under the shadow of violence and loss. I did not want my children to have to face that. Often, the burden of a political career is carried by the family, especially the children. I felt I needed to protect my children from this. As it happens, recently they became keen that I should enter politics and they were quite happy that I did.
Did they say, ‘Mom you should fight’?
Yes, my son would tease me by saying, you are wasting your political skills trying to solve problems between the cook and the electrician, put them to better use! In the last couple of years, both of them were encouraging me to enter politics.