'Modiji, let me tell you what shame is': Rahul hits back at PM Modi jibe

The war of words between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi intensified on Monday, with the Congress leader launching a blistering counterattack a day after the prime minister accused the Opposition of indulging in “dirty and shameless politics”.

Gandhi turned the charge around, arguing that what is truly shameful is far more serious: the alleged appearance of the prime minister’s name and that of a cabinet colleague in the Epstein files, what he described as the “selling” of India’s interests under the Indo-US trade deal, and the “handing over” of the country’s data.

In a sharply worded video post on X, Gandhi claimed that Modi is losing sleep over a United States court case involving industrialist Gautam Adani — a case he framed not merely as a legal matter, but as one that strikes at the BJP’s financial backbone.

“Modiji, you are talking about shame? Let me tell you what shame is. Your name, your minister's and your friend's names appearing together in the Epstein files, being linked to such a vile criminal — that is a matter of shame. The trade deal you have done with the US, in which you have sold out the country — that is shameful.

"You have handed over our country's data. You have wiped out the farmers. You have ruined the textile industry — that is shameful. The entire country knows that the ongoing case against Adani in the US has kept you awake at night — because it is a case against the BJP and your financial architecture. For 14 months, no action has been taken on it — that is shameful,” the Congress MP from Rae Bareli said in his Hindi post.

Gandhi doubled down on the confrontation, adding: “Modiji, you do whatever you deem appropriate for your friends Anil Ambani, Adani and yourself. I and the lion-hearted warriors of the Congress will continue to defend the country — we will not retreat even an inch.”

In an accompanying video message, the Lok Sabha LoP alleged that fear was visible in the prime minister’s eyes, claiming this was why Modi chose not to face the Opposition during ongoing the Budget session of Parliament.

Gandhi further argued that it was not former Army chief M.M. Naravane’s unpublished book that kept Modi away from the ongoing Budget session of Parliament before it went into recess, but rather the Epstein files and the Adani case in the United States.

He reiterated his charge that the India-US interim trade deal amounted to a sell-out in which New Delhi “got nothing”, and insisted that the mention of a Union minister’s name in documents linked to the late Jeffrey Epstein — whom he described as a known paedophile — is itself a matter of national shame.

“Modiji, continue to do what is right for your friends. But we protect the country, the farmers, the labourers, the country's small and medium industries and data, and we would continue to do that,” Gandhi said, urging Congress workers not to step back “even an inch”.

The exchange follows Modi’s remarks on Sunday at the inauguration of the Namo Bharat train and the Meerut Metro Rail extension, where he accused the Congress of dragging an international platform into partisan theatrics. Referring to a Youth Congress “shirtless” protest at the India AI Impact Summit held at Bharat Mandapam, the prime minister said the Opposition had turned a global event into an arena for “gandi aur nangi (dirty and shameless)” politics.

Modi went further, describing the Congress as “ideologically-bankrupt and impoverished”, and accused it of crossing all limits. He said the protest had drawn widespread criticism and charged that, instead of introspection, Congress leaders were glorifying those who insulted the country and its prime minister.

With PTI inputs