BJP has established system to 'steal' elections but public anger will bring it down: Rahul

Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched a sharp attack on the BJP, accusing it of creating a system to “steal” elections and claiming public anger against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah would eventually bring down the government.

Addressing a gathering after participating in Haryana Congress leader Brijendra Singh’s ‘Sadbhav Yatra’, Gandhi alleged that the BJP had “stolen” elections in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana, Maharashtra and most recently in West Bengal and Assam.

“They delete lakhs of names and add lakhs of names. The ECI and bureaucracy are under their control,” he alleged, claiming the BJP believed its rule would never end. “But their time is going to come. People have understood that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are selling the country. Airport, ports, infrastructure. Nicobar Island is being sold to Adani,” Gandhi said.

He also renewed his attack on the Indo-US trade agreement, alleging it would devastate Indian farmers and small industries. “Our agri sector has been opened for US farmers who can now sell their produce in Indian markets,” he said, adding that India would be forced to buy American goods annually under the deal.

“Modi also said we will buy from only those to whom US gives permission... And all your data, what you speak, messages you send, medical data, hospital data, all of that Modi has handed over to America. What did India get in this deal? Nothing. Zero, we got nothing,” he alleged.

Gandhi also referred to the Epstein files controversy while accusing the government of compromising India’s interests under the trade pact. Stepping up his attack further, Gandhi said, “Narendra Modi and (industrialist) Adani are one and the same. Though the company’s name is Adani, it should be renamed as ‘Modani’.”

Claiming that the BJP’s financial system revolved around the Adani group, Gandhi alleged, “US President Donald Trump also knows it.” He further claimed that Modi “cannot say anything without the permission of the US president”.

The Congress leader also alleged he was prevented from speaking in Parliament for four hours. “What was I attempting to speak about? I was about to speak about Epstein, Adani. But Narendra Modi simply got up and went out of Parliament,” he said.

Before addressing the rally, Gandhi walked around a kilometre alongside Brijendra Singh, Haryana Congress chief Rao Narender Singh and other leaders as part of the yatra. Senior Congress leaders Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Randeep Singh Surjewala and B.K. Hariprasad were also present.

“Take it in writing, Narendra Modi tik nahi payenga kyon ki janta mein itna gussa hai (Narendra Modi will not survive because there is so much anger among the public),” Gandhi said. “No matter how many elections you steal, you will have to face the anger of the people. And in India, people decide what is going to happen.”

Calling unemployment the country’s biggest issue, Gandhi claimed the Congress would eventually defeat the BJP. “This is an ideological battle. There are only two ideologies: one is of RSS’s hatred and division, and the other represented by the Congress party — of love and unity,” he said while holding up a copy of the Constitution.

Referring to the Bharat Jodo Yatra, Gandhi said the slogan “to open a shop of love in the marketplace of hate” had emerged from ordinary people during the march from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.

The Sadbhav Yatra, launched by Brijendra Singh in October 2025 from Danoda village in Haryana’s Jind district, has so far covered over 2,700 km across 85 Assembly constituencies. Brijendra Singh said the yatra highlighted issues including “vote chori”, unemployment, law and order, agrarian distress and concerns of government employees, labourers and traders. “Sadbhav and bhaichara were the message of this yatra, which BJP is attempting to weaken,” he said.

With PTI inputs