Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra ends: Modi made money out of pandemic, says Rahul

Mumbai: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday tore into prime minister Narendra Modi’s ‘institutionalised corruption and extortion racket,’ saying he did not desist from making money even during the Covid-19 pandemic when lakhs of people were dying helplessly.

He also targeted PM Modi over his deep links with Adani, remarking, “Modi is Adani, Adani is Modi as they are one and the same thing”.

Addressing a largely attended public meeting on the concluding day of the 63-day-long Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra here, Gandhi continued with his fierce attack on Modi over the electoral bonds which ‘he (Modi) turned into an institutionalised way of extorting money from people by abusing his power and using the investigating agencies like the ED, IT and CBI.’

The former Congress president said Modi had adopted multiple methods of extorting money from people through electoral bonds. The first method, he said, was to start ED, IT and CBI investigations into the businesses and within 2-3 months they would pay money to BJP and subsequently the investigations would be shelved.

The second method was the quid pro quo by way of getting money from the companies and then allotting them contracts, while the third method was for the companies to give particular shares from the contract earnings to the BJP.

He alleged that the BJP also indulged in money laundering by way of shell companies, which would route BJP’s money back to BJP through electoral bonds.

‘Modi made money during Covid’

Lashing out at the prime minister, Gandhi pointed out, that while people were dying from Covid and dead bodies were lying all around, Modi was taking money from vaccine manufacturing companies like the Serum Institute of India, which paid Rs 50 crores to the BJP during the Covid time.

The senior Congress leader said that it was the same money, which was being used against political opponents to destabilise opposition governments and replace them with the BJP and divide the opposition political parties. He said the NCP and Shiv Sena in Maharashtra were divided with the same money.

Accusing the BJP of grabbing all institutions, he alleged that, while people cast their vote in favour of someone, it goes to someone else. He said, similarly, when people elect their MLA for a particular party, he ends up somewhere else.

Links to Adani

The Congress leader also referred to ‘deep links’ between PM Modi and industrialist Gautam Adani, while pointing out how Adani had grabbed every business, thanks to his proximity with Modi. “Modi is Adani, Adani is Modi”, he remarked while adding, “They are one and the same thing and you can call them Modani.”

Gandhi expressed his heartfelt gratitude to lakhs of people who joined and participated in the 63-day-long Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra, which started in Manipur and concluded in Mumbai on Sunday. On the concluding day, it was accorded a rousing reception by people here.

The yatra concluded in the evening at Chaitya Bhoomi, the memorial of Baba Saheb Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar, where Rahul Gandhi paid tribute to Baba Saheb.

Earlier speaking on the occasion senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi said that the Yatra had helped in creating awareness among the masses.

She appealed to the people that they must not get carried away by the fake rhetoric of the leaders and the advertisements, but must make a conscious choice based on their own experience.