PM, BJP nexus of corruption: INDIA represents 60% population, says Rahul Gandhi

MUMBAI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that it is impossible for the BJP to win as the 60 per cent population is represented on the stage of INDIA.

He slammed the government saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP is a nexus of corruption and that is the first time the alliance will demonstrate and prove.

Addressing the press conference here after the two-day meeting, Rahul Gandhi said: “Two very big steps were taken. The most important thing is to understand that this stage represents 60 per cent of the population. If the party on the stage unite, it is impossible for the BJP to win the election.”

He said that the task in front of us is to come together in the most efficient ways.

He said that the two steps taken by INDIA is formation of the coordination committee and committees under it and the second step is that we will expedite the seat sharing decision and discussions.

“These are two powerful steps to ensure we defeat BJP,” he said, adding there is a clear nexus between the Prime minister and the particular businessman.

He said that G20 is taking place and it is very important for India's credibility that the Prime Minister makes his position clear and begins an inquiry in regard to Adani.

“The PM and the BJP are a nexus of corruption, and that is the first thing that the INDIA alliance will demonstrate and prove,” Rahul Gandhi said.

He said that the idea behind Prime Minister Modi’s government is to extract money from the poor people and transfer it to a limited few.

“So we are going to propose a clear path, a development path, a clear set of ideas that will once again involve the poor people, the farmers, and the workers in the progress of this country,” Rahul Gandhi said.

“There are people more senior to me but real work in this alliance is the relationship forged between the leaders and I can say with confidence that these meetings have done a huge good to build rapport among the leaders. I can see that there is flexibility among all the leaders in the way we are approaching things. There are differences but I am impressed to see how these differences are being minimised and ironed out.”

Talking about his recent visit to Ladakh, Rahul Gandhi slammed Prime Minister Modi and said: “I spent a week in Ladakh and went to Pangong Lake. Right in front were the Chinese. I had detailed discussions with politicians and especially with the shepherd of Pangong Lake. They told me that the Chinese have taken Indian land, and Prime Minister Modi is lying when he says that the Chinese have not taken our land. Every single person in Ladakh knows this. The people in Ladakh and India have been betrayed.”

“There is clearly accommodation between the government and the Chinese. The borders have changed. This is known to everybody. Unfortunately, the media does not talk about these issues. It is shameful what has happened in Ladakh.”

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that everyone in INDIA has only one intention that is how to reduce price rise, how to fight against inflation, and unemployment.

He targeted the government over the prices of essential items, petrol and diesel.

“The price of LPG more or less has doubled and he has only reduced Rs 200. Through this, he earned lakhs of rupees. The government pick-pocketed the poor by only reducing Rs 200 and saying I am working for the poor,” he said, referring to the government decision to reduce Rs 200 on Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) cylinders.

Kharge said that Modi will never work for the poor because his strategy has always been to work against the poor as he works with capitalists.

He said that to fight against this and to stop this, it is necessary that INDIA should win.

“We will work accordingly and will hold meetings everywhere. We will go to every state capital and will raise all the issues whether it is inflation or unemployment. They are ruining the autonomous bodies like the ED, CBI, and the Vigilance. They are misusing them. This has never happened before. I have been in politics for the last 55 years. Modi did not ask the Business Advisory Committee, they did not even call the Opposition leaders, without inviting anyone, they are calling a Special Session of the Parliament,” he said.

He also referred to Manipur violence and said that when the state was burning, Modi did not call the special session. Even during demonetization, Covid, or the China crisis he did not call the special session, he said.

“Whenever our country is in trouble, he never calls a special session. But, why has he called it now? This is not the way to run the country. Slowly, slowly we are heading towards dictatorship. We are fighting against this and its ideology,” Kharge said.

Referring to the CAG report, Kharge said: “Their corruption is invisible. He used to say ‘na khaunga na khane dunga’, he is only allowing his friends to earn and not giving anything to the public.”

He said that the next meeting of INDIA would be convened soon.

“The issues which I have raised, we will keep raising them. They will try to scare us but we will not be scared. We will fight and we will win. We are not going to get scared. Modi always lies and people take it as truth. We will expose him,” he said.