Lucknow, Apr 28 (IANS): Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Sunday mounted a blistering attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), accusing it of distributing "money, shoes and saris" to the voters in the Amethi Lok Sabha constituency which goes to the polls in the fifth phase on May 6.

"I have been coming to Amethi and Raebareli since I was 12 years old and I know that the people here have a lot of pride and self-respect. They have never begged for anything. But the BJP is distributing money, saris and shoes in front of the media to gain publicity," Priyanka told reporters, adding that the saffron party was trying to belittle her brother and Congress President Rahul Gandhi who is seeking re-election from Amethi.

Priyanka also said the issues in Amethi were employment, education and health.

Her remarks came a week after Union Minister and BJP candidate from Amethi, Smriti Irani, distributed shoes in Hariharpur village in the constituency. After the shoes were doled out, the local villagers said they wanted to return them to Irani because they were not beggars.

The Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party alliance has not fielded any candidate from Amethi.