LUCKNOW: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday claimed he could see the INDI alliance storming to victory in UP in this Lok Sabha election and stopping PM Narendra Modi from returning to power.
Rahul made the pronouncement while addressing a joint rally in Kannauj and Kanpur with Opposition bloc leaders including SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and AAP leader Sanjay Singh on Friday.
Akhilesh is the candidate from Kannauj where Rahul Gandhi made a fervent appeal to voters to support the SP chief. Kannauj goes to polls in the fourth phase on May 13.
The Congress leader, who is a candidate from Rae Bareli, said the results from Uttar Pradesh would come as the biggest shock for the ruling alliance. He predicted that INDIA, the opposition alliance, would emerge victorious in the state with over 50 seats.
"Whatever hard work was required, we have already put in and I guarantee that we will not get anything less than 50 seats in UP," said Rahul in Kanpur.
Countering the PM's jibe that Rahul had suddenly stopped mentioning 'Ambani-Adani' in speeches as he (Rahul) might have received 'money in a tempo', the Congress leader retorted by saying that the PM must be feeling so because of his (Modi) 'personal experience'.
Rahul said the PM had never taken the names of the two corporate honchos in the past ten years, but suddenly mentioned them in his speeches to seek their support in saving him from the impending defeat.
Cautioning the people against falling into the trap set by the PM, Rahul Gandhi said that the BJP would try its best to divert the attention of the people through different means in the next 10-15 days.
''We must not get digress today. The most important issue is to save the Constitution which guarantees powers to the poor, the deprived,'' he added.
Flashing a copy of the Constitution, like he does in every rally, Rahul Gandhi claimed that BJP had made up its mind to 'change' the Constitution if it returned to power. ''We will never allow any power to change the Constitution,'' he said.
Rahul also accused the BJP of taking money from the manufacturers of Covid vaccine through electoral bonds.
''Modiji asked you (people) to clap and bang thalis during Covid....while people were dying from lack of oxygen. He and his party also took money from the vaccine maker,'' he claimed.
Akhilesh Yadav also attacked the saffron party in his speech by saying that the INDIA alliance was poised to win the Lok Sabha polls.
Claiming that the BJP was lagging behind in the phases so far, Akhilesh said that the youth, farmers and the poor were all seeking change this time.
He assured the people of Kannauj, the city of perfumes, to work for enhancing the fragrance of development that had stalled during the BJP regime.
Meanwhile, in Kanpur, the SP chief said the BJP had failed to fulfil any of the promises it made in its manifesto.
"This party has been spreading lies and doing nothing else to befool people," he said, adding that the upcoming fourth phase would "upset the balance" of the BJP in the country.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh claimed the BJP wanted to scrap the Constitution and reservation.
"We will get the election deposits of whoever is trying to destroy Babasaheb's Constitution forfeited," he said.
