Rahul says Congress and all other parties together will defeat BJP

Without naming Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday compared him with prominent fugitives and expressed suspicion that even "he may run away" like Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya and Lalit Modi.

"Nirav Modi and Mehul Choksi ran away with ₹35,000 crore, Vijay Mallya took off with ₹9,000 crore and even Lalit Modi decamped... But he says nothing... He will also run away," Gandhi said, addressing a massive meeting of the party's booth-level workers in Mumbai on June 12.

Launching his sharpest attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Modi, Gandhi said there was "fear" now in Modi's voice.

“Unki awaaz me ek ghabraahat hai (There is fear in his voice)... The Prime Minister runs the country through 'bhaashans' (speeches) only... But I am not scared as I am a soldier of truth,” Gandhi said amid spontaneous rounds of claps punctuating his speech.

He said Modi had contended that he would be a watchman of the country and not the Prime Minister, but instead he has become “a watchman for only 15 to 20 rich people”.

Gandhi said the country is suffering under the “lies” of Modi, while the Congress always stood for the truth.

Hinting at Opposition unity in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, he warned that the Congress and all other parties together will defeat the BJP.

“In Gujarat, you barely survived... In Karnataka you were thrown out. In Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, you will be nowhere in the picture. The Congress and Opposition parties will unitedly vanquish you,” Gandhi said.

Referring to the demonetisation exercise in November 2016, the Congress President said that the common masses who used to eke out a survival with ₹500 or ₹1,000 were suddenly left in the lurch as the government laughingly spiked those currencies.

However, he said a certain Jayesh Shah (referring to BJP president Amit Shah's son) did not suffer and could convert ₹50,000 to ₹80 crore in a short time.

Accusing the BJP and Modi of spreading hatred throughout the country, Gandhi pointed out that the Congress has always united India and taken everybody along.

"The ordinary Indians who voted for the BJP had faith in the Prime Minister, but now they feel Modi has betrayed their trust totally. Farmers were expecting proper prices for the produce from him, but now they die alone and the Prime Minister is not there with them... He has made everybody cry," Gandhi said.