Winds of Change Are Emerging: Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI: INDIA bloc partners, Congress' Rahul Gandhi and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, and RJD's Tejashwi Yadav claimed on Saturday that the winds of change are blowing as the first day show of the BJP film "400 paar" has turned out to be a “flop show”.

During his campaigns for the INDIA bloc candidates in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Mr Gandhi asserted that the BJP will not win more than 150 seats in the ongoing Lok Sabha elections. Mr Yadav, at a rally in Uttar Pradesh's Amroha, said winds of change emerging from western UP will sweep the ruling BJP out of power, while Tejashwi Yadav said, “The BJP's 400 paar film is a flop on Day 1.”

From new ad campaigns to verbal attacks in the election rallies, the Congress, along with the other partners of the INDIA bloc, have upped the ante against the BJP, particularly against its top leadership, as the elections for the 18th Lok Sabha enter the second phase.

Keeping up the attack on the BJP's top leadership, Mr Gandhi accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of running a "school of corruption" in the country and teaching all chapters in the subject of "entire corruption science".

Addressing an INDIA bloc rally in Bhagalpur, where Congress candidate Ajit Sharma is in a direct contest against sitting Janata Dal-(United) MP Ajay Kumar Mandal, Mr Gandhi said that this general election is important as the Constitution and democracy are under threat. He said that all the privileges and opportunities people got through the Constitution will be gone if the Constitution is changed, which the BJP is keen to do.

He accused the BJP-led NDA government of favouring a few industrialists.

Speaking at a joint rally in Amroha with the SP chief, Mr Gandhi said on one side stands the INDIA bloc, committed to defending democracy and the Constitution, while on the other side, the BJP-RSS is engaged in dismantling these foundational principles.

"There is no force on earth that can alter the Constitution," asserted Mr Gandhi.

The Congress leader added that the contest between the INDIA bloc and the BJP is one of ideologies. He claimed that Mr Modi has turned India into the epicentre of unemployment and promised every graduate to have a guaranteed first job, scrap the Agnipath scheme and amend GST with lesser taxes.

Promising radical reforms, Mr Gandhi outlined the INDIA bloc's agenda, which includes farm loan waivers, direct financial assistance to the poor through schemes like the Mahalaxmi Yojna and the creation of 30-lakh government jobs to address youth unemployment.

Coming together with Mr Gandhi for the Amroha rally, Mr Yadav said the first phase of voting was the trailer for the picture that is to come.

“Yesterday's first-day first-show of the BJP turned out to be a flop show. Their film of lies failed…The winds of change emerging from western UP will sweep across the nation, ushering in a transformation that will not only reshape Uttar Pradesh but will also sweep the BJP out of power,” said Mr Yadav. He was responding to Mr Modi’s statement against the INDIA bloc made a day earlier in Amroha.

“The shooting of the film ‘do shehzade ki jodi' (pair of two princes) is going on. But their film has already been rejected. Every time these people go out to seek votes from the people of UP, they carry a basket of dynasties, corruption and appeasement,” Mr Modi had said in a veiled attack.

Responding to Mr Modi's jibe, Mr Yadav said the BJP’s flop show is visible to all, as no one is buying their falsehoods. “Yesterday's first-day first-show of the BJP turned out to be a flop show. Their film of lies failed. Their worn-out dialogues are no longer acceptable to the people. People in UP welcome guests very warmly, but at the same time they send them off with dhol nagara,” said Mr Yadav, hinting at Mr Modi’s visuals with a dhol at the Amroha rally.

He further said: “We do not want the BJP's guarantee; we want the guarantees enshrined in the Constitution by B.R. Ambedkar. And we want to safeguard that Constitution.”

Speaking with the media in Patna, Tejashwi Yadav mocked the BJP, saying the saffron party's "400-plus movie turned out to be a flop on the first day of voting".

"Their (the BJP's) '400-plus film' has turned out to be a super flop on the first day (phase) of polling. We (Mahagathbandhan) will win all four seats in Bihar -- Jamui, Nawada, Gaya, and Aurangabad -- that went to polls on April 19. We will also perform well in the coming phases," he said.