Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday lashed out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) saying that it is acting like a “class bully”. Rahul was addressing an election rally in poll-bound Meghalaya where voting will take place on February 27.
Speaking at the Malki Ground in Shillong, Gandhi said, “BJP (is) like a ‘class bully’, respects no one as it thinks that it knows everything.”
Gandhi, who is the Lok Sabha MP from Kerala’s Wayanad, further invoked the Adani crisis in the hill state, and questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s silence over the issue.
“I asked PM about his relationship with Adani. I also showed a picture in which Mr. Adani and PM are sitting in Adani’s aircraft and PM Modi is relaxing as if it is his own house. PM Modi did not answer a single question regarding it,” Gandhi said in his first public appearance after Bharat Jodo Yatra.
Speaking in Lok Sabha during the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address, Gandhi on February 7 questioned Gautam Adani’s meteoric rise in fortunes since 2014.
Gandhi further spoke of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s dig at Rahul Gandhi asking him why the Gandhi family was ashamed of using the Nehru surname. The Congress leader also attacked the media alleging that it is being controlled by a few industrialists who have links with the PM.
“He asked me a question and said why is my name Gandhi and not Nehru? I gave the speech in Parliament and then you notice that PM Modi is all over the television when he gives his speech but my speech is nowhere to be seen,” he said in Shillong.
“My speech is not visible in the media as the media is controlled by 2-3 big industrialists who have links with PM Modi. We can’t even express ourselves in the media anymore,” the Congress MP added.
Moreover, Rahul Gandhi also launched a frontal attack on Trinamool Congress, which is trying to come to power in the state. The TMC has emerged as the principal Opposition in the state, after a political coup in the state on November 25, 2021, when 12 out of 17 Congress MLAs of Meghalaya, including former chief minister Mukul Sangma, switched over to the West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee-led TMC.
“You also know the history of TMC, you know the violence that takes place in Bengal…You’re aware of their tradition, they came to Goa and spent huge amount of money as their idea was to help BJP. TMC’s idea in Meghalaya is to ensure that BJP comes to power,” Gandhi said.
Notably, this is Gandhi’s first election address in the northeast state. The Congress leader was absent from the political landscape of Tripura where polls were due on February 16.
The Congress’s top leadership has been absent so far from campaigning in the north-eastern states where polls are due in Meghalaya and Nagaland, while it took place in Tripura. Polling will be held in both the states of Meghalaya and Nagaland on February 27 while the counting of votes in the three NE states is scheduled on March 2.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday addressed a gathering in Nagaland’s Chumoukedima. Speaking at the rally, Kharge announced that the 2024 Lok Sabha elections will be fought unitedly by the Opposition which will be led by the grand-old party.
“In 2024, the alliance government will come to (power in) the Centre. The Congress will lead. We are talking with other parties,” he had said.