Rahul questions Modi's silence on rising fuel prices

Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Monday questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on the burning issues like fuel price rise, agrarian distress and declared that a united Opposition would oust the BJP government in the upcoming elections.

Addressing a joint Opposition protest near Rajghat in New Delhi, Rahul expressed happiness at the presence of top Opposition leaders, including NCP supremo Sharad Pawar, veteran leader Sharad Yadav, JD(S) leader Kunwar Danish Ali, among others.

“It is a matter of happiness that the entire Opposition is united, this is a reflection that our ideology is one and together we are going to defeat the BJP,” Rahul said in his brief address at the protest site, where representatives of at least 18 political parties were present.

Earlier, Opposition leaders offered tributes at Rajghat, the memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, where the Congress president offered water from the Mansarovar Lake. Rahul returned from his Kailash Mansarovar pilgrimage on Sunday night.

The leaders then took out a protest march to a petrol pump near the Ramlila Maidan where sit-in protests were held. Former prime minister Manmohan Singh, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, senior Congress leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ashok Gehlot, Anand Sharma, Ambika Soni, Ahmed Patel, Randeep Singh Surjewala, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Shailja Kumari, Meira Kumar, Jairam Ramesh, NCP's Sharad Pawar and Tariq Anwar, LJD's Sharad Yadav, RJD's Manoj Jha and J P N Yadav, AAP's Sanjay Singh and RSP's N K Premachandran were among several other leaders who took part in the protest.

The Congress president's counter of Opposition sharing a common “ideology” came a day after Modi lashed out at them for ganging together with the sole agenda to remove the BJP.

“There is no sign of leadership, the policies are unclear and intention is corrupt,” Modi had said on Sunday while addressing the BJP's National Executive meeting.

Rahul also accused the prime minister of spreading hatred and dividing the country.

“The prime minister often says that what has happened in the last four years of his rule has not happened in 70 years is actually true. Hatred is being spread, one Indian is fighting the other and the country is being divided,” Rahul said.