Don't be afraid Modi ji: Rahul Gandhi invites PM to send ED, CBI to 'Ambani-Adani'

Close on the heels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's accusation that the Congress had a nexus with "Ambani and Adani", and his asking if the party has received "tempo loads of black money" from the two businessmen for its MP Rahul Gandhi to "stop abusing" them, Gandhi himself posted a video on X responding to the accusation along with the line: "The country knows the 'driver' and 'helper' of BJP's tempo of corruption."

Speaking in Hindi, the Congress leader asked how the PM knew that Gautam Adani and Mukesh Ambani delivered money in a tempo (mini-truck), and whether he was speaking from "personal experience". He also questioned whether the PM was "nervous", since he normally only spoke about 'Ambani-Adani' behind closed doors instead of at a public meeting as he did on Wednesday.

In addition, Gandhi also invited PM Modi to "send the CBI and ED" to Ambani and Adani, referring to the country's two premier investigating agencies which have been conducting a series of raids on opposition leaders across the country, leading to the imprisonment of chief ministers Hemant Soren in Jharkhand and Arvind Kejriwal in Delhi.

Earlier in the day, the Congress launched a fierce counterattack against Modi for his Adani-Ambani jibe, with Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra charging that the BJP has a nexus with industrialists and the entire BJP machinery is engaged in "spreading lies" about Rahul Gandhi.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge claimed Modi's chair is "shaking" after three phases of the Lok Sabha polls as he has begun attacking his own "friends", and this shows the "real trend" of the poll results.

"The times are changing. Dost dost na raha (friends are no longer friends)…! After the completion of three phases of elections, today the Prime Minister has started attacking his own friends. It is becoming clear that Modiji's chair is shaking. This is the real trend of the results," Kharge said in a post in Hindi on X.

Congress MP and general-secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh claimed that the tide of this election has turned so "violently" that the "pappa" of "hum do hamare do" is turning on his own children. "Defeat is a foregone conclusion. The Prime Minister is now spooked even by his own shadow," he said in a video post on X.