Amid a huge banner that read “We want Rahul Gandhi as President,” several Congress leaders at Sunday’s Mehangai Par Halla Bol rally at the Ramlila Maidan reiterated their faith in the former party chief’s leadership abilities.
As soon as Mr. Gandhi came on the stage, the crowd gave him a standing ovation and raised slogans of “Rahul Gandhi Zindabad”.
Though none of the senior leaders who spoke from the dais before Mr. Gandhi directly referred to the upcoming presidential elections, many stressed that only Mr. Gandhi has been taking on Prime Minister Narendra Modi ‘fearlessly’ for the past eight years.
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Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdury, his deputy, Gaurav Gogoi, all talked about Mr Gandhi’s leadership in highlighting issues pertaining to the common people.
“The government agreed for a debate on inflation after we fought from Parliament to streets under Rahul Gandhi ji’s leadership. Even then, only five hours were allotted and the Congress got 28 minutes,” Mr. Kharge recalled.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, who is being considered as a serious contender in the presidential race, led a scathing attack on the BJP and lauded the Gandhis.
“The people in the BJP are fascists, they only wear the mask of democracy. The situation of the entire country is very concerning, the Constitution is being destroyed, democracy is in danger. Mr Modi has forgotten the things he had said during UPA rule,” Mr. Gehlot said.
“The credibility of Gandhis is highest and even more than yours [Modi’s], as no one in the Gandhi family has held any position in the government, including being the Prime Minister,” he added.
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Mr. Gehlot also said that the agitation led by Anna Hazare and Arvind Kejriwal was a conspiracy against the Congress-led UPA government.
“A strong speech by Rahul Gandhi at Congress’ Mehengai Par Halla Bol rally roused the huge crowds thronging the Ram Lila Maidan. Now to take the message across the country in the ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra!” tweeted Lok Sabha member Shashi Tharoor, who is also a member of the G-23 or the ginger group pushing for internal reforms. Mr. Tharoor, who is considering contesting the presidential polls, reportedly met Mr. Gehlot.
While G-23 members like Bhupinder Singh Hooda addressed the gathering, others like Manish Tewari and Anand Sharma were not present. Mr. Tewari is said to be out of the country.
Several senior leaders like Sachin Pilot, Leader of the Opposition in Punjab Assembly Partap Singh Bajwa talked about Mr. Gandhi’s upcoming Bharat Jodo Yatra and the need to strengthen their leader’s resolve.
