Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi lauded Priyanka Gandhi's speech in the Lok Sabha on Friday and said it was better than his maiden speech in the House.

In her 32-minute speech in Hindi, Priyanka Gandhi was combative yet restrained, never raising her voice, as she highlighted the opposition's key planks. These included the ruling BJP's alleged attempts to change the Constitution, the "growing monopoly" of the business group headed by industrialist Gautam Adani, atrocities on women, incidents of violence in Sambhal and Manipur and the demand for a nationwide caste census.

Participating in a debate on the Constitution, the member of Parliament from Kerala's Wayanad said the Constitution is a protective shield of justice, unity and freedom of expression, but the BJP-led Centre has made every effort to break it in the last 10 years.

Asked about the speech, Congress leader and Priyanka Gandhi's brother Rahul Gandhi told reporters outside Parliament, "It was a very good speech.... Wonderful speech. Better than my maiden speech, let us put it like that." Rahul Gandhi became an MP for the first time in 2004.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also lauded Priyanka Gandhi's speech.

"It was an excellent speech. She put all the facts before the government, how it is misusing the Constitution and not protecting the people of the country. We are very happy about her performance," Kharge said.

Congress general secretary in-charge organisation K C Venugopal said it was a "superb and excellent speech".

"Priyanka Gandhi narrated the common people's misery and life through constitutional parameters," Venugopal said.

Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor hailed Priyanka Gandhi's maiden speech in Parliament, saying she did not speak like a first-time MP and rightly pointed out to the government that it should talk about current times rather than harping on the past.

Asked about her speech, Tharoor told reporters, "I think it was an excellent maiden speech. She did not speak like a first-time parliamentarian, who, as she said, has had only 15 days in Parliament. She spoke with tremendous maturity, tremendous grace, tremendous intelligence. I was very impressed." "The difficulty in speaking for the first time is whether you should show passion or shout or whether you come across in a sensible, dignified and rational way. I think she was right to choose the latter," the former Union minister said.

Tharoor said since Defence Minister Rajnath Singh had delivered a very strong speech attacking the history of the Congress, Priyanka Gandhi rightly asked that "when will you talk about today, why should you talk about yesterday"? "It was very effective and she made all the points, all the key issues that we have seen and trouble us in the country that the way in which the Constitution has been working. She has done a wonderful job," he said.

Congress MP Karti Chidambaram said, "I think it was an excellent maiden speech. She clearly exhibited the ability to think on her feet and respond to the interruptions and barbs of the opposition." "Most importantly, she was able to draw on the historical references of the Constitution and make it contemporaneous, references to the fact that the victims of various injustices in this country are of a similar age as that of her children also added a very good personal touch," he said.

Trinamool Congress (TMC) MP Shatrughan Sinha said the points made by Priyanka Gandhi and the poise with which she spoke were commendable.

"We were happy to see her. This was her first speech. It was very good. People should learn from it," he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi also praised Priyanka Gandhi's speech.

"Priyanka Gandhi has shown the mirror to the government. She talked about people fighting for justice.... We hope that the government will clarify her statements," she said.

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