Wayanad (Kerala): Launching a scathing attack on the Prime Minister over his alleged link with business tycoon Gautam Adani, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said the PM "thinks that he is very powerful, but he doesn't realise that the absolute last thing that I am scared of is Narendra Modi."
Recalling the speech he had made in Parliament recently in which he had raised certain matters pertaining to the Hindenburg report on the Adani Group of companies, Gandhi, while addressing Congress workers in his constituency, said he was asked to show proof with regard to what he had said.
"...and I have written to the Speaker with every single point they have removed and supporting proof," Gandhi said. A major part of Gandhi's address during a discussion in the Lok Sabha on the motion of thanks on the President's address was removed. He said in his speech in the Lower House, he did not use any bad or abusive language but only pointed to the link between Modi and Adani.
"After my speech, most of it (speech) was edited out and was not allowed to go on record in Parliament... I don't expect that my words will be allowed to go on record," the Congress leader said, addressing a public gathering at Meenangadi here. Gandhi also crticised the Lok Sabha secretariat for not expunging Modi's speech "directly insulting" him.
"He says why is your name Gandhi and not Nehru. So the Prime Minister of the country directly insults me. But his words were not taken off the record," he pointed out. The Congress leader targeted Modi during his first visit to his Lok Sabha constituency after successfully completing around 4000 km 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.
Escalating his attacks on the PM's alleged link with Adani, he said, "Modi thinks that he is very powerful and people will get scared of him. He doesn't realise that the absolute last thing that I am scared of is Narendra Modi". "It doesn't matter whether he is Prime Minister of India, whether he has all the (investigating) agencies... because the truth is not on his side. And one day, he will be forced to face his truth", the Wayanad MP said.
He urged the Congress workers to see the speech he had made in Lok Sabha as it is important to understand what is going on in the country and the "nexus between the Prime Minister and Adani". The former Congress chief alleged that Adani emerged world's second wealthiest businessman from the 609th position in 2014.
"I asked the Prime Minister some questions. I asked him about his relationship with Mr Adani. I asked him about how Adani has grown so fast. The Prime Minister did not answer a single question. His response to my questions was why you are not called Nehru, why you are called Gandhi."
He also responded to the Prime Minister's recent attack on the Gandhis questioning why none of them used the name "Nehru" to honour Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister and Rahul's great grandfather. The Wayanad MP, who is son of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, said, "because, generally, I don't know may be Mr Modi doesn't understand it but generally in India our surname is the surname of our father." (PTI)
