Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP of weakening institutions that protect the rights of people and targeting critics who dare to speak against them.

“The truth is that in the last 10 years they have done all they could to destroy every institution that protects the rights of people in the country. Anybody who fights for you or speaks out against them or speaks out for you is harassed, intimidated and brought to their knees,” Priyanka said, addressing a meeting at Kamlakkad in the Wayanad Lok Sabha constituency where her brother Rahul Gandhi is seeking re-election.

“Institutes that protect you have been weakened. Worst of all, the Prime Minister feels he can get away with anything and there is no answerability to the public,” she said.

Priyanka accused Modi and the BJP of using diversionary tactics to evade explaining the real issues faced by the people.

“They will not speak about development, they will not speak about real issues. Every single day they will pull out some new issue which is unrelated to your life or avoid discussions on your progress — rising prices, rising unemployment. And they make the media talk about those irrelevant issues and try to fight the elections based on these issues,” she said.

Priyanka alleged that the Prime Minister has done nothing to empower the people since coming to power in 2014. “While you are shown beautiful images on TV and shown images of the Prime Minister being powerful, what has he done to make you strong? He has done nothing but distract people’s attention from real issues. He continues to do it every single day of this election,” she said.

“On the other hand, you have an MP from here, my brother Rahul, who has done nothing but fight for you. They called him all sorts of names, they abused him every day and spread lies about him. They make videos on social media lying about him. But he did not stop,” Priyanka said, reminding the people how the BJP has been harassing him by filing cases in various states.

“They called his martyred father and grandmother traitors. They called his grandfather names. They called his mother names. They attacked his family. But he did not stop fighting for you,” she said.

She urged the people to ensure that every vote cast goes on to strengthen the democracy. “The vote that you are going to cast on April 26 should be a vote for India, a vote to strengthen democracy and a vote to bring about change because what we have witnessed in the last 10 years is wrong.

“Your vote will bring politics in India back on track. We will bring back the democratic nation that India once was. We will bring back equality, (address) your needs, your requirements, your issues,” said Priyanka.

Wayanad votes on April 26