Modi hits out at INDIA bloc over Rahul Gandhi’s comments on ‘Shakti’
He said the competition will be held and on June 4, when Lok Sabha election results will be declared, they will see who can destroy Shakti and who gets its blessings
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday hit out at the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) over Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s comments on “Shakti”, saying there are people who talk about its destruction while others worship it.
“They declared that their fight is against Shakti... for me, every daughter, mother, and sister is a personification of Shakti,” Modi said at a rally in Telangana.
He said the competition will be held and on June 4, when Lok Sabha election results will be declared, they will see who can destroy Shakti and who gets its blessings. “It is an honour for me that Nari Shakti [women] has come here to bless and support me,” he said. “To those who are raising their voices against Shakti, I accept your challenge. I am willing to sacrifice my life for Shakti.”
Speaking at a rally marking the launch of INDIA’s bloc joint poll campaign in Mumbai, Gandhi said on Sunday they were fighting against a Shakti. “The question is, what is that Shakti? The soul of the King is in the EVM [electronic voting machine]...and every institution of the country, in ED [Enforcement Directorate], CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation], and Income Tax department,” he said without naming anyone as top INDIA bloc leaders gathered at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park to mark the conclusion of his led Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra.
Gandhi added a senior leader from Maharashtra left the Congress and cried in front of his mother Sonia Gandhi, saying he was ashamed that he did not have the power to fight this Shakti. He quoted the leader saying he did not want to go to jail. “Thousands of people have been threatened like this...,” Gandhi said at the INDIA bloc’s show of strength that came a day after the Election Commission of India announced the schedule for the Lok Sabha elections.
Former Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan, who defected from the Congress to the BJP last month, cited Gandhi’s remarks and added no names were taken. “If it was a hint to me, I would like to say that it is completely illogical,” he said. “I never met Sonia Gandhi in Delhi...This is a political statement.”
Opposition parties have long cited a pattern in raids of federal agencies and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union government of repeatedly targeting their leaders through raids, summons, and arrests ahead of elections. The federal agencies and the Union government have repeatedly denied these charges.