March 18, 2024
NEW DELHI – In a show of strength and unity, leaders of Opposition’s INDIA bloc on Sunday attended Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s mega rally held in Mumbai’s iconic Shivaji Park.
The ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Manzil’ rally marked the end of Rahul Gandhi’s yatra and the beginning of Opposition’s campaign for the Lok Sabha elections 2024 which will be held in seven phases from April 19.
Speaking at the rally, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi launched a pointed attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and accused the media of not raising the important issues of unemployment, inflation, and farmers.
“We had to undertake the journey because today the media does not raise important issues of the country – Unemployment, inflation, farmers issue, Agniveer issue. All these issues are not visible in the media today,” he said.
Taking a dig at the Prime Minister Modi, the Gandhi scion said that the “soul of the kind is in EVMs”, an apparent reference to Opposition’s allegations of voting machine manipulation.
“The soul of the King in the EVM and every institution of the country, in ED, CBI and Income Tax department,” Gandhi said.
“We asked the Election Commission of India to count the VVPAT (Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail) also. But our demand hasn’t been accepted,” he added.
Gandhi also claimed that a senior Congress leader from Maharashtra, who recently quit the party and joined the BJP, cried in front of his mother Sonia Gandhi and told her he didn’t want to go to the jail.
Earlier in the day, Gandhi paid homage to the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and visited the memorial of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackeray.
The mega rally was attended by the country’s top Opposition leaders, including NCP (SCP) president Sharad Pawar, Tamil Nadu CM M K Stalin, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, former Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray, NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and AAP’s Saurabh Bhardwaj.