Rahul Gandhi says Modi and Shah told him Congress would return to power

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah told him during a closed-door meeting that Congress would come to power after they left office. Speaking at a Congress Working Committee meeting in New Delhi on Tuesday, Gandhi said the two leaders told him, “When we go, you will come”. He used the reported exchange to encourage party colleagues to have greater confidence in themselves and in Congress’s ability to challenge the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, spoke for about 20 to 25 minutes at the meeting. He focused on the need for resistance within the party and said only Congress could defeat the BJP and Prime Minister Modi. He also recalled a selection committee meeting involving the Prime Minister and Home Minister.

Gandhi said that when he raised objections, Modi told him he was acting as earlier Prime Ministers, including Indira Gandhi, would have acted. Gandhi said he responded by pointing out that Indira Gandhi subsequently lost an election. Congress general secretary K.C.

Venugopal declined to comment on Gandhi’s remarks, saying discussions held inside the Working Committee were intended to remain private. Gandhi also called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and said Congress would continue its campaign over alleged “vote chori”. He claimed that support for the issue had grown since the campaign began, although the supplied material gives no independent assessment of that claim.

Congress is planning rallies at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi and in state capitals over the Election Commission issue. The next course of action is to be decided after a meeting of the INDIA bloc on September 30.