Chennai: In a no-holds-barred attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that “Mogambo Modi” is destroying India’s democracy, saying he will “pay for the crimes” he has committed against the country.
The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha also told the students of the country that they have nothing to fear, “we are with you”, and together, “we are going to demolish Modi”.
“We are going to make sure that Prime Minister Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and this group of conspirators who have destroyed Indian democracy and are using (Chief Election Commissioner) Gyanesh Kumar to steal elections are brought to justice,” Gandhi said.
No force in this world is going to stop Modi from facing justice, the former Congress chief said at the Island Grounds here as he addressed the sixth edition of his youth outreach initiative, ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’, which was the first in South India.
Gandhi also accused Modi of destroying the foundation of students’ curiosity.
Modi is attacking democracy directly and indulging in “vote chori” as well as “election chori”, he said.
“Modi is silencing voices; as you saw in New Delhi, the entire city was shut down, the internet was shut down, and police were beating students. The BJP also released its own goondas who beat up and thrashed students,” Gandhi claimed.
“The problem is, Mr Modi does not understand that the game is over. The drama that he has been doing in this country for the past 15 years is coming to an end. The opposition has surrounded Mr Modi, Mr Shah, Mr Doval and Mohan Bhagwat… We are going to ensure that Modi pays for the crimes he has committed against the country,” he said.
Nobody is going to attack the democratic foundation of India or its Constitution and get away without being brought to justice, Gandhi said.
“Doesn’t matter who he is, whether he is the prime minister or the home minister. We are going to bring these people to justice for what they have done,” he said.
“Mogambo Modi” is destroying India’s democracy, he said, likening the prime minister to the dreaded villain from the Bollywood hit ‘Mr. India’ played by the late Amrish Puri.
As Gandhi delivered the line, the screen behind him played the famous “Mogambo khush hua” scene from the 1987 movie with Modi’s face superimposed on Amrish Puri.
Later in a post on X, Gandhi said, “Mogambo Modi has destroyed democracy and the future of India’s youth. No power on earth can stop Modi, Shah, Bhagwat, Doval and Gyanesh from being brought to justice.”
Addressing the event, Gandhi also claimed that the prime minister has been compromised by financial and international forces, who “control Modi”.
“Modi is fighting for survival. The mood in India, the mood among the students, and the work that the opposition has done is catching up with him,” the Congress leader said.
In a message to students in Delhi, Gandhi asked them not to worry and “stand up for everything you believe in and never stop asking questions”.
“Together, we are going to demolish Modi,” he said.
Gandhi also accused Modi and Shah of launching a full-scale attack on Tamil culture, language and history.
“What we are seeing is a full-scale attack on Tamil culture… On your language, history and traditions. But we are not going to let Modi attack them,” Gandhi said.
With a video of Amit Shah playing out on the screen, Gandhi said, “As you can see in the video, he (Shah) is openly saying that Hindi should be imposed on the people of Tamil Nadu. He is publicly saying that Tamil culture, language and history are secondary to his language, his history to his tradition.”
“So, how are Modi and Shah destroying the foundation of democracy? The first is language imposition. A total of Rs 3,300 crore has been withheld from Tamil Nadu via the New Education Policy. The government of India is withholding money that you should get. Second, centralisation. There is an 87 per cent fall in Tamil medium students’ share of MBBS seats because of NEET,” he said.
“The third is “RSSification” – 70 per cent of your state universities are without vice-chancellors because the governor wants to ensure that RSS people run your universities,” the Congress leader claimed.
The latest act is one of representation as the delimitation exercise is designed to “punish” Tamil Nadu and reduce its voice in Parliament, Gandhi said.
The remarks come amid speculation that the government could bring a Constitution Amendment Bill involving delimitation for the early implementation of the women’s reservation act.
Parliament has not been prorogued till now even though it was adjourned sine die on August 13, the last day of the Monsoon Session.
On April 17, the Constitution Amendment Bill to implement women’s reservation in legislatures in 2029, and increase the number of seats in the Lok Sabha, was defeated in the Lower House.
In his remarks at the student outreach event, Gandhi said these are attacks on the people of Tamil Nadu, on their language, culture, tradition and history.
“Modi uses fear, hatred and division to carry out these attacks. But we are not going to let Modi attack the Tamil language, history and culture, nothing… He is not going to touch Tamil Nadu,” Gandhi said.
The former Congress chief also said that whenever he comes to Tamil Nadu, he learns something from the people of the state.
Describing what defines a student, Gandhi quoted Tamil social reformer Periyar saying, “Do not follow anything just because someone else has said it. Analyse and inquire into everything.”
He then quoted Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar: “The deeper you dig a well in sand, more water springs up; the more you learn, the more knowledge flows.”
Gandhi also interacted with students on stage, who spoke in Tamil, through an interpreter.
Asserting that curiosity is the foundation of progress, Gandhi said, “Anything you do will always begin with a question you ask. So, questioning is the foundation of curiosity. The question is at the heart of human progress. Not just that, democracy itself emerges from asking questions.”
“Democracy is your right to ask questions. The Constitution protects your right to question, and the vote ensures that you get answers from the people who lead you, who run the government,” Gandhi said.
An attack on curiosity is also an attack on democracy, he added.
Before Chennai, ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ was held in Kota, Dehradun, Prayagraj, Pune and Indore.
(This report has been published as part of the auto-generated syndicate wire feed. Apart from the headline, no editing has been done in the copy by ABP Live.)
