India Opposition Leader Rahul Gandhi Claims Prime Minister Narendra Modi Knows Congress Will Return to Power
India's Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, asserted on Tuesday (Sept 29) that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will eventually be unseated and the Indian National Congress will return to power in New Delhi. Speaking before party leaders during a Congress Working Committee meeting held in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Gandhi claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is himself well aware of this impending political reality.
Elaborating on the sentiment, Gandhi revealed that Prime Minister Modi had previously admitted to him in a private discussion that if the BJP loses power, the Congress is the natural alternative to take over the governance of India. Gandhi emphasized that if the Prime Minister himself understands this political inevitability, Congress leaders must maintain unwavering self-confidence in their political resurgence.
During the high-level policy meeting, Gandhi launched a scathing attack on the Election Commission of India and the central government led by Prime Minister Modi, accusing them of electoral manipulation. He alleged that the BJP has been attempting to secure unfair political advantages by engineering alterations in voter lists and the polling process. While noting that senior party members had initially doubted his warnings regarding the Election Commission's conduct over the past year and a half, Gandhi stated that recent internal developments within the commission have validated the gravity of his allegations.
Recalling the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, Gandhi criticized the executive branch, stating that despite stiff opposition from him as the Leader of the Opposition, Prime Minister Modi and Indian Home Minister Amit Shah appointed election commissioners of their own choosing, delivering a severe blow to democratic governance. Building on these grievances, the Congress Working Committee finalized a decision to intensify nationwide protests against the central government and the election panel. The party strongly demanded the immediate suspension of the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls, the reinstatement of approximately 133 million dropped voters, and public disclosure of all voter list modifications. Furthermore, the party demanded that affected voters be granted the right to appeal, political parties receive timely access to updated lists, and an independent, impartial investigation be conducted into all alleged irregularities.
Echoing these demands, Congress President Mallikarjun Khaleed strongly criticized the institutional integrity of the election oversight body and called for the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, alongside Prime Minister Modi and Home Minister Shah. Directing party members to escalate the political and legal battle, Gandhi instructed leaders to take the fight to the streets rather than remaining confined to parliamentary protests or press statements, urging a coordinated struggle to protect voting rights across parliament, courts, and public thoroughfares.
As part of this ongoing political mobilization, an opposition alliance meeting was scheduled for Wednesday (Sept 30) in New Delhi to deliberate on the Congress party's grievances regarding the electoral rolls and formulate subsequent agitation programs, which may include a major opposition rally at the Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi.
