Rahul attacks Modi, calls him instrument of rich

Kozhikode: In a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the electoral bonds issue, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday that he is an “instrument of India’s richest persons” and was distracting people from real issues, while the INDIA bloc was “trying to save the Constitution”. Continuing the election campaign in his Wayanad constituency for the second day, Rahul said, “Modi is an instrument of India’s five or six richest persons.

His job is to distract people from the real issues. Sometimes, you will see him doing pooja under the sea, sometimes he will be flying by seaplane. Sometimes he will say that he will bring the Olympics to India. He will say we are going to send man to Moon.” “He never talks about the issues farmers are facing, he never talks about unemployment and rice prices. He only protects the richest people in the country. He had given Rs 16 lakh crore to the richest 25 people in the country,” Rahul said at Mukkom in Kozhikode, which comes under Wayanad constituency.

Referring to Modi’s interview with the ANI, Rahul said, “I don’t know if you have noticed his face and eyes. He was trying to defend the biggest corruption scandal on earth: electoral bonds, through which the BJP extorted thousands of crores of rupees from businesspeople. In small towns, there are people who extort money from people after threatening them. Every village will have such people. What these common people were doing on the streets, the Prime Minister was doing at an international level.”

The owner of Mumbai airport was facing a CBI probe, Rahul Gandhi said. “The CBI threatened and interrogated him. Within a month or two he sold the airport to Adani. This is how Adani got Mumbai airport. In our streets, we see people who threaten others that they will break their legs if money is not given. At the electoral bond level, the threat is much more sophisticated.”

“Officials of the ED, CBI and Income Tax will come and threaten businesspeople. After interrogation, they would say why don’t you give this to Adani. Big businessmen cannot be uncomfortable for even five minutes.