Hyderabad, Nov 14 (PTI) Launching a diatribe against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged, "India is actually no longer a democracy".
Rahul Gandhi, who spoke at the two-day Bharat Summit hosted by the Telangana government here, also expressed confidence that "we are going to defeat Mr Modi and get rid of Mr Modi".
He asked how the election can be legitimate if the Election Commission declares 140 million voters to be illegal.
He was apparently referring to the number of voters that shrank after the SIR of the electoral roll in several states post 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
"The 140 million people who voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha election were declared as either non-existent voters or non-voters a few months ago," he said.
In 2014, a completely new election was witnessed, with millions of dollars injected into the political system and a completely new type of campaign, he said.
The electoral system that was used to close fights was suddenly upended, and "we were in shock for a decade", he said.
It was in the year 2014 that the Congress-led UPA government was ousted, giving way to the BJP-led NDA government, and Narendra Modi became prime minister for the first time.
Claiming a crisis in Indian politics for a decade, Rahul said the Congress slowly discovered what was happening.
"What we discovered, and we have proven without any doubt, is that democracy was destroyed in India in 2014," he said.
Talking about alleged malpractices in the electoral system, he said, "The Congress-led alliance won the election in Maharashtra, but it was decimated three months later".
In an analysis of the reasons for the outcome, Congress and others found that it got the exact same votes in both elections, he said.
Seven million new voters were "magically" added in three months and every single person of them voted for BJP leading to its victory, he claimed. So is the case with other states, he alleged.
Being the largest democracy in the world with more than 1.5 billion people, India is a global asset Rahul said, adding, "It is important for the democratic movement on the planet that India remains a democracy and what we have found and proven is that India is actually no longer a democracy".
Rahul Gandhi further alleged that a businessman in the country who was the 600th richest man in the world before the BJP came to power became the second richest man in the world some months ago.
"The line between business and politics, between Mr Adani and Mr Modi, has evaporated. You can see the outcome in the amount of assets that Mr Adani captures: airports, ports, bridges, cement, defence, infrastructure. You name it. He is there. The result is that the BJP's assets grow 11-fold in a decade. Essentially, they become a financial titan, and nobody can compete," he said.
Such elements can be seen across the world, he said.
The Opposition Leader in Lok Sabha said what he learnt was that the "instruments" such as media would not work in taking on BJP and Modi, he said.
The opposition was clueless on its course of action as "institutions were taken away" and the opposition leaders faced cases, he alleged.
However, the opposition discovered that a direct link with people of the country is more powerful, no matter how many institutions the "fascists" control, he said.
Congress started its counter-attack by undertaking the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' and the party's outreach got tremendous response from people, he said.
He said he found "truth, non-violence and love" to be the most powerful weapons in defeating the BJP regime.
"You can see it on our streets, in Delhi. You can see it in the fear that the Prime Minister, Mr Amit Shah, has. This is already a done deal," he said.
Rahul apologised to foreign delegates who could not attend the Bharat Summit in Hyderabad, and alleged that the Union government didn't allow them to attend the event.
"It gives you a sense of what we are dealing with in our country," he claimed.
Union government reportedly denied or revoked visas for over 100 foreign invitees, including Norwegian journalist Helle Lyng, to the Bharat Summit, while granting clearance to more than 300 others.
Lyng, who briefly drew media attention during Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Oslo in May over a question posed to the Indian side on press freedom, was reportedly scheduled to speak on a panel at the Hyderabad summit.
Congress MP Shashi Tharoor flagged on Friday that 115 of the 315 speakers cleared by the external affairs ministry for the Bharat Summit ended up being refused entry to India or having their visas cancelled, and he criticised the move, saying, "It is a shame that a proud democracy has become so insecure that it must stifle any voice it fears will be critical".
Responding to the issue in a media briefing, the external affairs ministry spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, said, "Visa matters are sovereign functions of any country or any government. So that is what I have to say".
Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, his cabinet colleagues, other Congress leaders and delegates from foreign countries were present on the occasion.
Meanwhile, activists of BJYM, BJP's Youth Wing, protested near the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC), the venue of Bharat Summit, against Rahul Gandhi's visit.
BJYM state president Ganesh Kunde said Rahul Gandhi has no right to tour the state without implementing the election promises made by Congress.
(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)