Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on a trip to the USA, on Monday (local time) said that people's fear of “Prime Minister Narendra Modi” has vanished after the BJP failed to get a majority on its own following the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Speaking at an Indian diaspora event organised in Herndon, Virginia, Gandhi said, "The other thing that happened was that the fear of the BJP vanished.”

“Within minutes of the election result, nobody in India was scared of the BJP or the Prime Minister of India. So, these are huge achievements not of Rahul Gandhi or the Congress party. We are peripheral. These are huge achievements of the people of India who realized democracy, of the people of India who realized that we are not going to accept an attack on our constitution. We are not going to accept an attack on our religion. We're not going to accept an attack on our states,” Gandhi was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

“In Parliament, I see the Prime Minister right up front and I can tell you that the idea of Mr Modi, 56-inch chest, direct connection with God, that’s all gone now, it's all history now,” he further added.

Gandhi further emphasised that the 2024 Lok Sabha Election result was not a victory for himself or the Congress, but a reflection of the will of the Indian people.

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The Congress MP also recounted the challenging period leading up to the elections, saying that just three months before voting began, the Congress party's bank accounts were frozen. "Three months before elections our bank accounts were all sealed... We were discussing that now what to do...I said 'Dekhi Jayegi', let's see what we can do .. and we went into the elections...," he said.

Before returning to New Delhi, Gandhi will remain in Washington for the next two days. His US tour aims to connect with the Indian diaspora and discuss key political issues.

BJP Hits Back

After Gandhi’s address in the US, BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia,  launched a fierce attack on the Congress MP, branding him as "a black spot in Indian democracy”, as reported by news agency PTI. Bhatia accused Gandhi of undermining the integrity of Indian democracy with his comments made abroad. “I feel sad to say that Rahul Gandhi is a black spot in Indian democracy. He does not even know what to talk about when he visits a foreign country," he said.