Rahul Gandhi latest news: claimed that despite the nation’s worst levels of unemployment and inflation, Narendra Modi believes “everything is fine.”On Sunday, opposition parties in India banded together to voice their disapproval of a well-known leader’s detention only weeks before a national election. They also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his party of manipulating the results and intimidating them with exorbitant tax demands.
Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the opposition Congress party, said at a rally in New Delhi, “Narendra Modi is trying match-fixing in this election,” amid the cries of the assembled throng of “shame.”
Less than a month before voting begins in a general election that is expected to solidify Modi’s mandate with an uncommon third term, Delhi’s chief minister, Arvind Kejriwal, was arrested on March 21 for alleged graft over granting liquor licenses. Kejriwal is a prominent leader of the INDIA opposition alliance and a staunch critic of Modi.
The Aam Aadmi party, led by Kejriwal, claims that the charges against him are politically motivated and made up. Law enforcement authorities are carrying out their duties, according to Modi’s government and his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP), which also denies political meddling.
Gandhi declared: “The country will catch fire if the BJP wins this electoral manipulation contest and modifies the constitution. This election is not like any other. The goal of this election is to preserve our constitution and save the nation.
After India won its independence from Britain in 1947, Gandhi’s Congress party dominated the nation for more than two thirds of that period. However, since Modi stormed to power a decade ago, the party has suffered.
At the event at the well-known Ramlila Maidan gathering spot in New Delhi, opposition figures, including leaders of regional parties that have reconciled over disagreements over which party would run for which seats, shared the platform with Gandhi.
At the event, Kejriwal’s wife, Sunita Kejriwal, stated: “This fascism will not work in India.” We’ll battle, and we’ll prevail.
Modi said that the opposition had been shaken by his battle against corruption. He claimed that the opposition sought to shield the corrupt, while his party and its allies sought to remove them from office.
During a rally on Sunday to kick off his election campaign in the vast northern state of Uttar Pradesh, Modi declared, “Big corrupt people are behind bars and even the supreme court is not giving them bail.”
In addition to dealing with arrests and searches by India’s financial crime-fighting agency, Congress claims it is fighting “tax terrorism” in the face of significant tax demands from the government and bank account freezes, which it claims are intended to financially bankrupt the party.
The BJP refutes the claims made by critics that Modi and his party have weaponized tax officials and investigation agencies to intimidate political rivals and lessen the likelihood of a fair election.
The people cheered in anticipation as they heard the distant rumbling of a chopper approaching. The cries of “Modi, Modi, Modi” had become unbearable by the time India’s prime leader appeared on stage, perfectly attired in a white kurta and peach waistcoat, with a well-groomed beard and a deep bow.
In recent weeks, similar scenes from a campaign event outside the city of Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, have been repeated all over the nation as Modi and his Bharatiya Janata party (BJP) aim to win a third term in the India election, which starts on April 19 and lasts for six weeks.
It is unclear if the BJP will be able to secure the same sizable majority as in 2019. However, the reverence that many Indians hold for their prime minister was evident in Meerut. While some referred to him as an almost holy figure, others demanded that he rule India for the next fifty years. Many people donned face masks.
Professor of political science at Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi, Dwaipayan Bhattacharyya, claimed that “he casts a certain messianic spell on his voters.” The BJP is able to portray him as the one above criticism because of his political influence and the idea that he is divine.
Indians are pretty sure that Narendra Modi‘s ten years in office have had a profound impact on their nation. Some see it as an upbeat tale of how India broke free from the politics of the elites and the “chains of colonisers” to become the fastest-growing economy in the world while being courted by powerful western leaders and multinational corporations; how effective governance and technological advancements have benefited the public; and how the nation has reclaimed its historical Hindu civilizational greatness.
Others, however, see it as a narrative of democratic backsliding and escalating authoritarianism; of crony capitalism and widening wealth disparities; of attacks on secularism, liberal institutions, and civil society; of openly supported Islamophobia and expanding state-sponsored persecution of minorities, chiefly India’s 200 million Muslims.
Modi’s popularity, which many refer to as a “cult of personality,” has increased rapidly while the amount of space available for criticism of him—whether it comes from academic studies, the media, or even made-up TV shows—has been steadily declining. Interestingly, he hasn’t had a press conference in ten years. According to Bhattacharyya, “opposition to Modi is painted as opposition to the country itself.”