INDIA completely destroyed the idea of Narendra Modi: Rahul

By Shankar Raj*

Thiruvananthapuram: In his first appearance today in Kalpetta in Wayanad after winning the Lok Sabha seat in the constituency by a huge margin for the second consecutive time, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said: “The truth is, what we have today is a crippled government (at the Centre). It has been beaten so badly by the INDIA bloc that it cannot walk straight. It is certainly not a government which is capable of leading the country.”

Displaying confidence and aggression, the Congress leader called the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre  “crippled” one that will limp from one problem to another.

In this election, voters have sent a clear message to the prime minister that the time has come to change his attitude, he said and added that the INDIA bloc has “completely destroyed the idea of Narendra Modi.”

“Today, the Narendra Modi you see is completely different from the one you saw before the election,” he said.

Gandhi said during the entire Lok Sabha poll campaign period, the media, Enforcement Directorate, Central Bureau of Investigation and the entire Central administration were against the INDIA bloc.

“The Election Commission designed the election to suit the PM’s needs. The plan was a big drama where, at the end, the PM’s election will be held in Varanasi.

At Edavanna in Malappuram district, he said the PM and Union Home Minister Amit Shah erred very badly on their understanding of the people.

“They (PM and Shah) thought that just because they have political power, they have ED, CBI and the Income Tax Department, they can dictate to people what is going to happen. The people of Kerala, Uttar Pradesh and all other states showed the PM that you cannot dictate to us what we want. The people of India told them that the Constitution is our voice. Do not touch the Constitution,” Gandhi said.

“Even the people of Ayodhya sent a message to the BJP that we do not appreciate hatred and violence,” the Congress leader said and added that the truth was that the PM barely escaped defeat in Varanasi and the BJP was defeated in Ayodhya.

Gandhi also accused the PM of violating the model code of conduct by meditating at Kanyakumari towards the end of the elections when all other candidates were forbidden from campaigning. But, he had the full media coverage, he said.

At all the meetings, Gandhi held up a copy of the Constitution and claimed that the BJP leaders, before the elections, would say that they would change and replace it. But immediately after the LS polls results, Prime Minister Modi was seen bowing before the Constitution.

“The single biggest message that the people of India gave was that we have multiple traditions, states, religions and histories, and every single one of them was going to be respected,” Gandhi said.

*Shankar Raj is a former editor of The New Indian Express, Karnataka and Kerala, and writes regularly on current affairs.