Mumbai: The Congress-led Opposition's INDIA bloc is holding a mega rally on Sunday in Mumbai's Shivaji Park to kickstart the alliance's Lok Sabha election campaign.
The rally also marks the culmination of Rahul Gandhi's Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. Top opposition leaders including Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar and AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj among others. CPI general secretary Dipankar Bhattacharya, Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren and former CM Hemant Soren's wife Kalpana Soren were also present on the occasion.
Speaking during the rally, Rahul Gandhi called Prime Minister Narendra Modi a 'mask' and a 'hollow person'. "Modi is merely is a mask, just like a Bollywood actor. He is getting orders to act. He is being asked to wake up in the morning, jump into the sea or to fly a sea plane. He does not have 56 inch chest but he is a hollow person," Gandhi said.
PM Modi was afraid of him since he had seen the system from inside, Gandhi said. "I understand the system, that's why Narendra Modi is afraid of me. No one can suppress me. I have seen everything and understand all of it. I have seen it for years," Gandhi said.
"Without EVM, Narendra Modi cannot win elections. We asked Election Commission to show the machines to the opposition and show our experts how they (EVM) work. We asked them to count the papers (VVPAT slips) but they refused," the former Congress chief said. The senior Congress leader further said that he undertook the Bharat Jodo Yatra to communicate with people as media ignores the issues like unemployment and inflation.
"When the BJP government was formed, Arun Jaitley came to me and said – do not speak on the issue of land acquisition and I asked why not. This is a public matter. He said- if you speak, we will file a case against you. I also said that file a case, I don't care. The ED interrogated me for 50 hours and an officer told me – you are not afraid of anyone, you can defeat Narendra Modi," Rahul Gandhi recalled.
At the same time, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at the INDIA bloc rally said, "Modi's guarantee is for the rich and our guarantee is for the common man." Meanwhile, PDP president Mehbooba Mufti at INDIA leaders' rally in Mumbai said, "BJP leaders are afraid of 'Gandhi' in Rahul Gandhi's name. BJP speaks of winning more than 400 Lok Sabha seats in order to change Constitution."
NCP Chief Sharad Pawar addressing the mega rally said, "Mahatma Gandhi gave 'Quit India' call from Mumbai and INDIA leaders should vow from Mumbai to oust BJP from power."
Addressing the mega rally, Tamil Nadu CM Stalin alleged that Prime Minister Modi in his 10-year tenure, went on foreign trips and was indulged in "fake propaganda". The DMK chief said since the opposition named its INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance), the BJP has stopped using the word India.
"PM Modi has started defaming us as corrupt, but electoral bonds proved that BJP is corrupt. It's white-collar corruption of the BJP," lamented Stalin. Stalin said Rahul Gandhi's Yatra was an attempt to see through the heart of India, which he claimed had been destroyed by the BJP. "There is no bigger threat to India than BJP," he alleged.
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav said the INDIA bloc fight was not against Prime Minister Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, but against the ideology of hate. Speaking at the rally at Shivaji Park, the former Bihar deputy chief minister said the need was to protect the diversity and brotherhood in the nation.
Earlier in the day, before the rally, Rahul Gandhi led a Nyay Sankalp Padyatra from Mani Bhavan to August Kranti Maidan, marking the end of his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
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