Wayanad (Ker): Continuing his attack on the prime minister on the second day of his visit to Wayanad, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said Narendra Modi’s Lok Sabha election campaign was filled with ‘lies, poison and hatred’, but his party stood for truth, love and affection.
On his first visit to his constituency after being elected to Lok Sabha, Gandhi addressed party workers at Kalpetta, Kambalakadu and Panamaram during a roadshow Saturday.
A large number of Congress-led United Democratic Front workers and women thronged the route.
Congress general secretary in-charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal, Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly Ramesh Chennithala, Kerala Congress chief Mullappally Ramachandran were with Gandhi in his special vehicle.
Though it rained heavily in parts of the constituency Friday, the weather did not play spoilsport as it was bright and sunny till this noon.
Gandhi said Modi ‘uses hatred, anger and lies’ which are his ‘weapons’.
He said his party will continue to fight the ‘worst sentiments’ the prime minister represents.
“At the national level, we are fighting poison. Modi’s campaign was filled with lies, poison, hatred and divided the people of the country. He used lies in the election… Congress stood for truth, love and affection,” he said addressing the crowd at Kalpetta.
At Kambalakadu, Gandhi said there are big challenges in Wayanad which can be resolved by working together.
“My job is to represent all of Wayanad. People from all parties supported me in the election. There are big challenges and issues in Wayanad. We will work together and solve everything,” he said.
Gandhi had contested the Lok Sabha election from Wayanad, in addition to his family bastion of Amethi, but lost to Union minister Smriti Irani in the Uttar Pradesh constituency.
He won from Wayanad with a margin of about 4.31 lakh votes.
After the Congress party’s poor show in the second consecutive general election, Gandhi had offered to resign as the Congress president, but it was rejected by the party’s highest decision-making body.
Congress won 52 seats in the 2019 polls. However in Kerala, the only state besides Punjab and Tamil Nadu where it did well, the party and its allies won 19 out of 20 seats.
Friday in Malappuram district, Gandhi said his party would emerge as a strong Opposition and defend the poor.
Attacking Modi, he said, “Modi may have money, he may have the media by his side, he may have rich friends. But the Congress will continue to fight against the intolerance created by the BJP.”
“The intolerance created by BJP and Modi will be dealt by the Congress party with love and affection,” Gandhi added.
The Congress president is on a three-day visit to the constituency.
PTI
