The Congress on Wednesday castigated the Modi-Shah duopoly and the RSS as “traitors” and contrasted the Prime Minister’s words with his actions by flagging his departure on a five-nation tour after preaching austerity to Indians, referring
particularly to his “Melody” moment.
Rahul Gandhi, the Lok Sabha leader of the Opposition, urged people to stand up and declare publicly that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Amit Shah were “traitors” and the RSS was disloyal to India “before they destroy the country”.
Rahul made the plea in back-to-back speeches in Rae Bareli and Amethi.
Rahul also seemed to mock Modi’s “Melody” moment: His handing of a packet of Indian Melody toffees to Italian Premier Giorgia Meloni in Rome in an apparent bid to play up the social media moniker “Melodi”, coined to underline their rapport.
By the time Rahul had reached Amethi, the BJP had come out guns blazing, demanding an apology. A small group of BJP workers turned up to protest in person.
But Rahul held his ground, saying he would not apologise and repeating his call to people to stand up to Modi-Shah and the RSS.
In Delhi, the Congress held a news conference and echoed Rahul’s comments.
Party president Mallikarjun Kharge chipped in on X with: “Modi ji wants the public to enjoy the ‘melody’ of speeches while surviving the ‘misery’ of his government’s loot.
He underlined that while the number of Indian billionaires was rising, “around 80 crore citizens were dependent on a 5 kg ration support system”, and “Modi ji continues his PR, lecturing citizens to shoulder the burden of this Grave Economic Storm!”
Earlier, addressing a public meeting in Rae Bareli after unveiling a statue of freedom fighter Veera Pasi — a military commander and hero of the 1857 revolt — Rahul accused the Modi government of hollowing out the Constitution.
“There is no point standing with folded hands. You have to stand up and fight. The RSS workers will come to you and talk about Narendra Modiji and Amit Shahji,” he told his audience.
“Tell them to their face that their Prime Minister is a traitor; their home minister is a traitor; (tell them that) ‘You belong to a traitor organisation; you have worked against Hindustan; you have insulted the Constitution; you have insulted Ambedkarji and you have insulted Veera Pasiji; you have attacked Gandhiji’.”
Rahul had visited Rae Bareli on a planned one-day tour on Tuesday but extended his stay by another day.
“If you remember Ambedkar, Veera Pasi, Gandhiji, Bhagwan Buddha, then I want you to become the Veera Pasi, Ambedkar and Gandhi of the 21st century,” Rahul said.
“They (these leaders) will not drop from the sky. Today’s youths are supposed to come forward because the days ahead are very difficult.”
At the day’s second meeting in Amethi, Rahul asked “Did you see today’s video of Modiji”, appearing to alludeto Modi’s toffee diplomacy with Meloni.
Rahul then turned to his left where a group of BJP workers had gathered to protest against his visit and asked: “Did the WhatsApp university members see (the video)?”
A crowd standing to his right chanted: “Modi hatao (remove Modi).”
Rahul said: “Before leaving (on his foreign trip), before going to Italy and meeting Meloniji, Modiji gave a speech in India and told Indians to minimise the use of petrol: ‘Don’t buy gold, buy electric vehicles and don’t go on a foreign tour because we are on the verge of economic crisis’.
“The next day, Narendra Modi boarded a plane... and was on his way to Italy with Melody toffees in his pocket and offered them to the Prime Minister there. You see what kind of game he is playing with the people of the country?”
Rahul also elaborated on his accusation of treachery.
“What will you call those who attack the Constitution…. You will call them ‘traitors’. I have said openly that Narendra Modi and Amit Shah are attacking the Constitution,” he said.
“They gave the wealth of the country to Adani and Ambani. They destroyed the institutions of the country; they stole the votes, suppressed the Election Commission, and mounted pressure on the judiciary.…
“You said I should tender an apology -- I’ll never offer an apology, I’ll repeat that Amit Shah and Narendra Modi are traitors because they attacked the Constitution…. The people of the country don’t fear you, either.”
Speaking to PTI, Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj too contrasted Modi’s preaching of austerity with his foreign visit.
“The kind of visuals now emerging from Italy do not make it seem like any very serious work is taking place, contrary to the earlier narrative that Modi works 18 hours a day and never takes holidays,” he said.
In a post on X, RJD member Manoj Jha noted how diplomacy was being conducted through “selfies, hashtags and candy packets”, andwondered whether foreign policy had partly been assigned to “social media teams, meme makers and trending hashtag experts”.