Kicking off the INDIA bloc's campaign for Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai's iconic Shivaji Park, Congress Rahul Gandhi targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 17th March, and called him a "hollow man". Gandhi also raked up the electoral bonds scheme, saying that Modi used this funding method to extort companies.
"Modi is merely is a mask, just like a Bollywood actor. He is getting orders like jumping into the sea or flying a seaplane. He doesn't have a 56-inch chest, it is hollow," Gandhi said at the rally, after ending his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Mumbai.
The rally was attended by all the INDIA bloc members, except Akhilesh Yadav, who couldn't take part due to viral fever.
"Today, Narendra Modi has the monopoly over corruption. He implemented the electoral bond scheme. This system works like a hafta vasooli which is seen at the local level. Electoral bonds work exactly like that, but at a national level," says the Congress leader.
The Gandhi scion also claimed that PM Modi is scared of him.
"Modiji is scared of me because I've seen the system from the inside. I've sat in there for years. Nobody can hide or suppress me. Modi can be suppressed," Rahul Gandhi said while talking about the "Shakthi" (power) that is running the country.
"Nobody can escape this Shakthi."
Earlier, on his arrival at the venue, Gandhi paid floral tributes to the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj and visited the memorial of Shiv Sena founder Bal Thackray and paid his respects.
The last rally of the Congress at the venue was addressed by Sonia Gandhi in 2003.
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