Priyanka draws inspiration from grandmother Indira to ‘be fearless’

Prayagraj, March 18

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is in Uttar Pradesh campaigning for the party, is drawing inspiration from her grandmother and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, who taught her to be fearless.

"Sitting in the courtyard of Swaraj Bhawan, the room is visible where my grandmother was born," she tweeted late on Sunday, while spending sometime in the 19th century mansion here. The ancestral home was owned by her great-great grandfather, Motilal Nehru.

स्वराज भवन के आँगन में बैठे हुए वह कमरा दिख रहा है जहाँ मेरी दादी का जन्म हुआ। रात को सुलाते हुए दादी मुझे जोन ऑफ आर्क की कहानी सुनाया करती थीं। आज भी उनके शब्द दिल में गूँजते हैं। कहती थीं- निडर बनो और सब अच्छा होगा। pic.twitter.com/q8Ecdb2RsL

— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) March 17, 2019

The 47-year-old recalled how her grandmother often rocked her to sleep with the bedtime story of Joan of Arc, a peasant girl from medieval France, who believed God chose her to lead France to victory in its Hundred Years War with England. She succeeded and is honoured as the Maid of Orleans.

"I still have those words imprinted in my heart. Become fearless and all will be good," she added.

Party president Rahul Gandhi appointed his younger sibling as the eastern in-charge of Uttar Pradesh on January 23.

The fifth generation of the Nehru-Gandhi family still at the helm of the party is striving hard to win the Hindi heartland state.

Priyanka Gandhi has embarked on a Prayagraj to Varanasi (Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency) boat ride on the river Ganga, making small pit stops and meeting crowds on the banks.

IANS