Lok Sabha Leader of Opposition and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi addressing an event in Washington DC metro area said that just months ahead of the general elections in India the bank accounts of his party were sealed leaving it without funds for advertising or campaigning.
“Three months before elections our bank accounts were all sealed… We were discussing that now what to do…I said ‘Dekhi Jayegi‘, let’s see what we can do .. and we went into the elections…” Mr Gandhi said.
“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.
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, ‘dekhi jayegi, dekhte hain kya hota hai‘ (We’ll see, let’s see what happens) and that was the spirit with which we fought the election,” said Rahul Gandhi said while addressing an Indian diaspora event in Virginia’s Herndon in US on Monday (local time).
“You have to understand what this fight is about. It’s not just about politics, that’s superficial,” Mr Gandhi said adding that the the real issue is whether a person will still be allowed to wear his turban as a Sikh.
“The fight (in India) is about whether a Sikh, is going to be allowed to wear a turban in India…whether a Sikh will be allowed to wear a kada in India or will be able to go to the Gurudwara…that’s what the fight is about, and it is not just for Sikh, it is for all the religion…” the Congress leader said.
Further he continued his tirade against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party claiming that the “fear of Prime Minister Narendra Modi” among people had vanished after Lok Sabha elections 2024 results were declared.
“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. He, his partners in government and India, the three or four senior ministers in his government realise it.” he said.
Earlier on February 16, Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge came down heavily on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government after the alleged freezing of the grand old party’s bank accounts by the Income Tax department.
“Power drunk Modi Govt has frozen the accounts of the country’s largest Opposition party – the Indian National Congress – just before the Lok Sabha elections,” Mr Kharge said in a post on X.
“This is a deep assault on India’s Democracy! The UNCONSTITUTIONAL money collected by the BJP would be utilised by them for elections, but the money collected by us through CROWDFUNDING shall be sealed!” he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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