New Delhi: Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Sunday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of being "hollow" and speaking "lies", and said that the BJP will be defeated in Karanataka assembly polls and the 2019 general election.
In a hard-hitting attack at Modi at the Jan Akrosh rally here, Gandhi tore into him on a range of issues including corruption, problem of farmers, unemployment, atrocities against women, Rafale deal, and "agenda-less" visit to China.
Silent
He also accused the Prime Minister of being silent over Union Minister Piyush Goyal's alleged sale of shares held in a privately-held company at nearly 1,000 times the face value.
"Piyush Goyal becomes a minister and does not declare his company. Later he sells it for Rs48 crore to a power company. It is first time a Power Minister has sold his company to a power company and Narendra Modi does not speak a word," Gandhi said.
The BJP has already termed the accusations as "baseless and malicious".
The well-attended rally at Ram Lila Maidan came almost a year before the next Lok Sabha polls and signalled Gandhi's intention to build up electoral momentum with sharp attacks on Modi and his government. Party leaders including UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were among those present.
Accusing Modi keeps making promises in his speeches, he said that people have a hard time finding the truth.
He said on the death of Judge B.H. Loya where people in Supreme Court say that pressure is being exerted on the court, but Modi is "silent" as he was on the unprecedented press conference of four judges of the Supreme Court in January.
In Karnataka, which will go to the polls on May 12, Gandhi said that Modi, who asserts he is fighting against corruption, but sits with the BJP's Chief Ministerial candidate B.S. Yedyurappa who has gone to jail.
Rafale deal
Referring to the Rafale deal with France, Gandhi said the fighter jets were being purchased at double the rate negotiated by the Congress-led UPA government and Modi had taken away the contract away from HAL and given it to an "industralist friend."
Gandhi said turnover of a company belonging to BJP chief Amit Shah's son Jay Shah had risen from Rs 50,000 to Rs 80 crore in a short span of time and the "chowkidar who talks against corruption does not utter a word".
He said Modi had talked of providing two crore jobs every year and the youth believed him, but now "unemployment is highest in the past eight years", while demonetisation and faulty implementation of GST had "broken the back of the informal sector".
Hollow, empty, speaks lies
"China creates 50,000 jobs in 24 hours while India generates 450. The youth looks towards Narendra Modi and say that he is hollow. His words are empty. He only speaks lies," Gandhi said.
The Congress leader said that the Modi government was willing to waive Rs 2.5 lakh crore loans of a few industrialists but was not ready to do the same for farmers, who were being forced to commit suicide.
"The farmer cannot survive without Congress. If Congress had not stood up, all the land of farmers would have been snatched by Narendra Modi," Gandhi said.
He said Dalits and minorities were facing attack and Modi "does not speak a word". Referring to incidents of rapes in different parts of the country, he said it was the first time in the country's history that a Prime Minister was told to his face in a foreign land that his government was not doing enough to protect women.
Citing Modi's visit to China for an informal summit, he said: "China's army is entrenched in Doklam, they are making helipads, extending airways and India's Prime Minister held discussions without an agenda. What does this mean?"
None of the Prime Ministers had done such a thing but "Narendra Modi can do this", he said.
Referring to the Congress's spirited performance in Gujarat, Gandhi said: "you see what will happen in Karnataka" and also that the party will win this year's assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Chhattisgarh and then the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.
