Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his ‘mangalsutra’ remark, recounting how women in her family sacrificed for the nation.

Addressing a rally in Bengaluru, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, “For the last two days, it is being said that Congress wants to snatch your ‘mangalsutra’ and gold. The country has been independent for 70 years and there has been a Congress government for 55 years. Did anyone snatch your gold, ‘mangalsutra’?”

“During the war, Indira Gandhi gave her gold to the country. Meri maa ka ‘mangalsutra’ is desh ko kurbaan hua hai (My mother’s mangalsutra was sacrificed for the country)… The truth is that these (BJP) people cannot understand the struggle of women,” she added.

The Congress general secretary was referring to the assassination of her father, Rajiv Gandhi, who was killed by Sri Lankan Tamil extremists in 1991.

Mangalsutra is a necklace worn by Hindu women at their wedding and afterwards, which is considered a visual marker of a married woman.

While addressing an election rally in Rajasthan’s Banswara on April 21, PM Modi said the Congress plans to give people’s hard-earned money and valuables to “infiltrators” and “those who have more children”.

“This urban Naxal mindset, my mothers and sisters, they will not even leave your ‘mangalsutra’. They can go to that level,” PM Modi said.

Congress leader P Chidambaram also lashed out at the Prime Minister, saying his remarks show the ruling BJP’s “pathological fear of defeat”.

“What else explains the bizarre claim that the Congress will seize the mangalsutra, streedhan and Temple properties, and redistribute them? Even the most die-hard supporter of the BJP will not believe these meaningless utterances. I wonder what the RSS leaders privately think of these statements,” the former Union Minister said in a tweet.

The Congress has also lodged a complaint with the Election Commission against PM Modi, alleging that he targeted a particular religious community during his speech at the Banswara rally.

According to sources, the Election Commission has received the complaint against the Prime Minister, and it is under consideration.