Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Saturday asked people not to get carried away by the words used by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his speeches and to vote for change in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing a poll rally in Uttarakhand's Ramnagar, she said elections should be fought on real issues and not empty rhetoric.

"Don't get carried away by the words used by Modi ji in his election speeches. Before casting your vote, you should honestly ask yourself whether 10 years of the Modi government have really brought about a positive change in your lives," the Congress general secretary said.

Ever-growing unemployment, uncontrolled inflation and paper leak scams are the truths of people's lives and the BJP-led government is responsible for these as it has been in power for the last 10 years, she said.

On the BJP's charge that no work was done during the 75 years of Congress rule, Gandhi asked who built the IITs, IIMs and AIIMS.

Accusing the Modi government of not honouring any of its promises, the Congress leader reminded people that commitments, such as providing 2 crore jobs to youngsters and depositing Rs 15 lakh in the bank account of every citizen, remain unfulfilled.

She also accused the BJP of using religion in every election for votes.

"Modi had described Himachal Pradesh as 'Devbhoomi' ahead of the assembly polls in the state. The Congress won the elections and when a disaster struck after a few months, the Modi government did not even give a single penny as relief to the people of the state. All relief was given by the state government," Gandhi said.

She said when Modi says "Baar baar Modi sarkar" (Modi government yet again), she feels like asking "Aur kitni baar Modi sarkar?" (Modi government how many more times?).

"Sacrifice is the biggest value of Hindu religion. True faith comes from sacrifices. I have known sacrifice. As a 19-year-old, I kept my father's body parts before my mother. We keep mum when they insult our martyred father because there is true faith in our hearts," Gandhi said.

Her father, former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, was assassinated in 1991.

"For us, religion is not a subject for political experiment," the Congress leader said.

Gandhi appealed to voters to wake up and vote for a people's government which would give top priority to resolving their issues.

This was the Congress' first major rally in Uttarakhand ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.

Addressing another poll rally in Roorkee, Gandhi said now the people of the country know where all the black money has gone. It has gone to the BJP in the form of donations made through electoral bonds.

Electoral bonds are the biggest case of corruption, she said, accusing the Modi government of taking donations from vaccine manufacturing companies and bridge-building firms.

Despite its tall claims, Gandhi said, the Modi government has done nothing to address the issues of unemployment and inflation.

Even IIT graduates are not getting jobs. Only 30 per cent of them are getting placements, she said citing a newspaper report.

Claiming that there are 30 lakh vacancies in central government jobs, the Congress leader said her party will fill these up if it is voted to power.

She also promised that the Congress would give 50 per cent of these jobs to women, set up a separate commission for farm loan waiver and a legal guarantee of minimum support price (MSP) and roll back the Agniveer scheme.

Modi keeps talking about 'nari shakti' (woman power) but women are feeling insecure like never before under his leadership, Gandhi claimed.

She asked, "Where was Modi when Ankita Bhandari was murdered and when Olympic medallist women wrestlers were agitating against sexual harassment?" All good things are said on TV about the Modi government because most channels are owned by Modi's industrialist friends, she charged.

Gandhi further said, "They call us dynasts and they call us corrupt. The fact is that our family has served the country for generations. Our family has made sacrifices for the country. None of my family members has held any position of power for the last 30 years." "We are not power hungry as alleged by them. Even Lord Ram fought for his family values. This is not 'parivarvaad' (nepotism), this is service. We don't want anything from you. You have given us a lot. We will continue to serve.

"Think of your life, which is full of struggles. Listen to your conscience and vote for change. Otherwise, your life will continue to be like this for another five years," she told the gathering.

Polling for the five Lok Sabha seats in Uttarakhand will be held in the first round of the seven-phase elections on April 19.

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