Describing Priyanka Gandhi as someone who showed her the care of a sister, UDF’s Vattiyoorkavu candidate Adv Veena S Nair wrote that she couldn't go on without telling the world what happened. She was speaking about her experience at the Attukal Temple in Trivandrum where Priyanka Gandhi had given her support and care.
“As a candidate, I received the opportunity to pray with Priyanka Gandhi at the Attukal Temple. As planned, I was waiting at the front with K Muraleedharan when Priyanka arrived at the temple. As there was a lot of rush, I had to push through to get near her, while she was praying. However, in that rush, I didn’t realise my saree had caught fire, and I panicked as it spread fast on my cotton saree,” she said in her post.
Adding that someone from behind, possible an NSG commando, quenched the fire, she noted, “A good part of my saree was burnt, and seeing this Priyanka Ji took her shawl and covered me. She then held my hand and brought me outside. When I told her that I had something important to say, she dragged me into the car.” Veena then went on to talk about how Priyanka attended to her and asked her to join in waving at their followers from the sunroof.
“She is the daughter of Rajiv Gandhi who sacrificed his life for India, the granddaughter of Indira Gandhi. I have no words to explain the love and affection she has shown me in my hour of need; the care she gave to an ordinary person in their time of need,” said Veena, adding, “This institution shall not falter, and it shall not die. This is Indira’s institution. It belongs to Priyanka and Rahul, and lakhs of people in this country.”
Adv Veena is contesting from Vattiyoorkavu, and she was one of the last names suggested in the UDF’s candidate list. While the local area leaders had opposed to the other names, they were happy about Veena, as she was one among them. While she is a popular household name in the state thanks to her long career in the television industry, she is also a major part of the recent political movements in the state. As the state secretary of both the Youth Congress and the Mahila Congress, she has participated in movements in support of both groups.
Visuals of her jumping the fence of the Secretariat, protesting the backdoor appointments in the state — perpetrated by the LDF government — have been doing rounds on social media, but she had been an active presence in the PSC protests since it broke. Moreover, she has also been the target of state attack when the Ernakulam Central police filed a case against her for her Facebook post criticising Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. In her post, she noted that the Sprinklr deal had been corrupt — which was later proved true — and that the CM was using television channels and government money to boost his public image during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.
As a member of the Mahila Congress, she has been an active presence in society as well. She has been one of the leading faces during the protest against Kerala State Women’s Commission chief MC Josephine when she said that the party [CPM] was both police and court while talking about allegations of violence against women on one of her party men. Veena was also one of the main faces while protesting against the recent sexist remarks by former MP Joyce George against St Teresa’s College students.
