Modi’s 56-Inch Chest, Direct Connection With God Is History: Rahul In US

WASHINGTON, DC (ANI) – Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi addressing the Indian American community in Herndon, VA, on September 9 said that just months ahead of the Indian general elections the bank accounts of his party were sealed leaving it without funds for advertising or campaigning.

“We had no money for advertising or campaigning, we had no money to transport our leaders. I remember discussing with Mallikarjun Kharge and the treasurer “unki toh, hawa likal gayi thi (lost his confidence) about what to do next,” he narrated.

The Congress leader recounted that he had fought multiple elections-2004, 2009, assembly elections. “This is the first time in my life all the bank accounts were sealed. I said, let’s see what happens and that was the spirit with which we fought the election,” said Gandhi. “You have to understand what this fight is about. It’s not just about politics, that’s superficial,” he added.

Gandhi then talked about PM Narendra Modi and his style of governance. He said, “Something has changed after the elections. PM Modi tried to create an environment of fear. Various agencies, media, income tax department tried to spread fear, even among small and medium-sized businesses. But nothing worked. The fear vanished in one second. The spread of fear took years and consumed a lot of money, but it vanished. You can see it in parliament right upfront… And I can tell you that the idea of PM Modi, 56-inch chest, direct connection with God. That’s all gone. It’s history now.”

Terming the Lok Sabha polls as a “controlled election”, Gandhi, said that the Bharatiya Janata Party would not have been near 240 seats in “fair election.”

While interacting with students and faculty at Georgetown University here, Rahul Gandhi said the entire campaign was structured in a way that Prime Minister Modi could do his thing across the country.

“They had locked our bank accounts but they had a huge war chest. The Election Commission was doing what they wanted. I mean, the entire campaign was structured so Mr. Modi could do his thing across the country. States where they were weak were designed differently than states where they were strong. So, I don’t view it as a free election at all. I view it as a rather controlled election,” he added.

However, he noted that people could not understand it.

He stated that people understood the situation when they started holding up the constitution. Rahul Gandhi said that people understood that there is a fight between those who are protecting the constitution and those who want to destroy it and called it a “very strong element.”

“And then in one meeting one of the people who works with us said, listen, try holding up the constitution. And so, I started holding up the constitution and everything we had said suddenly just exploded. So, India realized in this election, and really, I mean, not to divide it so crudely, but poor India, disenfranchised India, oppressed India, that India, it understood that if the Constitution goes, the whole game is gone.”