Oppn alliance taking shape, will defeat Modi: Rahul

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Monday hinted at a larger Opposition alliance in the next six months to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the next Lok Sabha elections.

Rahul's statement comes a day after Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav announced that his party was ready to sacrifice some seats in the favour of the Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) to defeat the BJP in the 2019 General Elections.

“It is a matter of happiness and it is happening and nobody can stop it. The entire Opposition be it Congress, be it Janata Dal … the entire Opposition is standing together. You shall see in the next 6-7 months, one year Narendra Modiji, Amit Shahji and Mohan Bhagwatji will get to witness India's strength,” Rahul said while addressing an Other Backward Classes convention organised by his party.

Rahul claimed that the nation has become a slave of two-three leaders of the BJP and the RSS who were creating a fear psychosis by pushing the people of the country into silence. “They will understand that India cannot be run by only three people. India will be run by people of the country,” he said.

The Congress president said even some BJP MPs had told him how they were scared to speak up and share their opinions in Parliament or in Assemblies and even at BJP meetings.

He also launched a broadside against Modi for not rewarding workers and labourers by recognising their skill sets.

Rahul went a step further saying the founders of Coca-Cola and McDonald's were ordinary persons selling 'shikanji' (lemonade) and running 'dhaba' (roadside restaurant) respectively. He argued that their skill sets were recognised in the meritocratic system in their country which turned them to global behemoths.

Similarly, he said the founders of Mercedes, Ford and Honda car companies were mechanics.

“It is not that our 'dhaba-wallahs' do not have sense and strength. It is not that India's mechanics did not have the potential as that of Ford or Mercedes … the doors of banks and politics are shut for our 'dhabawalas', mechanics and other backwards,” Rahul said.

He also slammed the Modi government for not doing enough to promote skill development in the country.