Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi visited Ahmedabad Rajkot gambling zone fire Meeting the Gujarat Governor and Indian National Congress activists on Saturday, he declared that his party would defeat the BJP in the 2027 state assembly elections and give a vision to the people of Gujarat.
Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Rahul said the prime minister did not contest the Lok Sabha elections from Ayodhya instead of Varanasi after poll workers informed him that he had lost and his political career was over.
“The Congress Party will win in Gujarat and a new Congress Party will be formed from Gujarat. Where will the Congress Party be formed? The greatest leader who showed the way during the British rule was Mahatma Gandhi and he raised the slogan: Daromat Daromat “And the fire started in Gujarat. If the Congress Party exists today, its ideology and thinking started in Gujarat,” Rahul said while addressing party workers in Ahmedabad.
Speaking of Attack on Congressional Headquarters“They vandalised our office here. We wanted to teach them (BJP) a lesson,” Rahul said at Ahmedabad’s Rajiv Gandhi Bhawan in the early hours of July 2. It’s all in your hands We will overthrow their government.”
He said the big difference between the BJP and the Indian National Congress is that in the Indian National Congress no one is afraid, but in the BJP everyone is afraid of Modi.
“I am here to tell you that they have attacked your office. You need not be scared or be intimidated. We will defeat Narendra Modi and the BJP in Gujarat (in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections) like we did in Ayodhya. Our workers — Babar Sher — will defeat them. There is one thing you have to do — tell the people of Gujarat that there is no need to be scared. Whether you are a farmer or a worker, if you fight the BJP fearlessly, the BJP will not be able to stand before you,” Rahul said.
However, enumerating the weaknesses of the Congress in Gujarat, Rahul said he was told by Congress workers that there are two types of horses — one for racing and the other for weddings. “I have heard that the Congress sometimes swaps horses for another. Stop this. So, you have to do this in Gujarat. Those horses who want to contest and are ready to race, let them contest,” he said.
“We have to be serious. In the last elections (2022 state Assembly elections), we did not fight the BJP properly. In 2017, we fought for just three-four months and you saw the result. If we lost by 16 seats in three months, we will definitely win in Gujarat in three years. If you fight and change the mindset of the remaining 50 per cent people (who do not believe that the Congress will win), things will change. The entire Congress party, team, including me and my sister, is standing here. You have already suffered a lot, been humiliated, been beaten with sticks but enough is enough. We will defeat them with love, not hatred,” the MP from Rai Bareli in Uttar Pradesh promised party workers.
Talking about preparations, he said the Bharatiya Janata Party was shaken by the Indian National Congress’ manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. “A similar manifesto has to be made for Gujarat. After meeting and speaking to lakhs of people in Gujarat, we will give a vision for Gujarat and defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party. Narendra Modi’s vision, the bubble has burst. Imagine a person who thinks he is a non-living thing and everyone else is a living thing. How will he give a vision to Gujarat, the people working in the diamond industry, the labourers and the farmers,” he added.
Rahul said that during the Lok Sabha elections, the BJP’s entire campaign was focused on the Ram temple and Ayodhya, a campaign that Advani (former Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani) had started with the Rath Yatra.
“It is said that Narendra Modi supported Advani’s Rath Yatra. They started from there. They inaugurated the Rama temple, Adani and Ambani were there but there was no poor person in the temple. BJP’s politics was all Ayodhya politics. They inaugurated the temple and politicised Lord Rama. When I spoke to the people of Ayodhya, they said land was taken from many people for the construction of the temple, their shops and houses were destroyed and till date Modi has not compensated them,” he said, adding that farmers’ land was taken for the international airport in Ayodhya and till date they have not received proper compensation.
“Thirdly, the people of Ayodhya were extremely angry as not a single person from Ayodhya was invited for the inauguration ceremony. The movement started by Advani, who is at the centre of Ayodhya, was defeated by Bloc India. If you ask Samajwadi leaders, they will say Congress activists like you stood with us like Babar Sher (lion). The Congress made one or two mistakes in Varanasi, otherwise Modi would have lost there too. He had to flee for his life from Kashi where he had won by a margin of nearly rupees one lakh,” Rahul said.
Talking about the Congress signboard, Rahul said, “This can be seen in every religion but it has only one meaning.Daromat Daromat (Don’t be afraid or intimidated).
