Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Saturday bracketed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, accusing both of fostering corruption, nepotism and a culture of intimidation while eroding the foundational ethos of the country and the state in their pursuit of power.

Rahul also asserted that only the Congress, anchored in its ideological moorings, could counter this trajectory.

At an election rally in support of state Congress president Subhankar Sarkar in Serampore, Hooghly, and later in Calcutta's Shaheed Minar Ground for other party candidates for the second-phase Assembly poll, Rahul alleged that just as the BJP under Modi was “damaging the country in different ways”, and “surrendering before US President Donald Trump and compromising national interest”, Mamata was inflicting comparable damage on Bengal.

“While Narendra Modi works with only a few rich ones like Adani, Ambani, and not for the poor, Mamata Banerjee is doing the same across Bengal. They both want power but don't work for people,” he said.

“If Modi is encouraging corruption, then Mamata is also not doing any less. Trinamool is responsible for the Sarada scam involving ₹19,000 crore of public funds, as well as the Rose Valley scam involving ₹6,600 crore of public funds, along with coal mine smuggling and enforcing goonda tax across Bengal,” Rahul said.

Rahul accused Mamata of paving the way for the BJP’s rise in Bengal.

“It is Mamata Banerjee who actually opened the road for the BJP in Bengal. This is the reality. If Mamata Banerjee worked in the right way for Bengal, not indulging in corruption, taking action against incidents like the RG Kar rape and murder, creating jobs, then there would have been no threat of the BJP in Bengal,” he said.

He accused both Modi and Mamata of promoting nepotism.

“Whatever Modi does, the entire benefit goes to the BJP or to some partymen. In Bengal too, Mamata is doing the same thing. Industry has finished here, and unemployment increased,” he said.

Alleging mass-scale irregularities in recruitment and employment, Rahul claimed: “In Bengal, if anyone wants employment, he has to come to a sort of relationship with a Trinamool Congress leader. All jobs here in Bengal are meant for the Trinamool Congress people and do not support the poor.” Referring to the decline of industrial hubs, he added: “Once upon a time here in Serampore, Hindustan Motors manufactured Ambassador cars. It was an industrial centre then. But first the Left Front spoilt it and then Mamata Banerjee finished it.”

“Mamata or Modi do not think about industry but rather only want power and do nothing for people. What Modi has been doing across the country, Trinamool and Mamata are doing the same in Bengal,” Rahul alleged.

Rahul pointed to the scale of applications under the state’s Yuva Sathi scheme. “Mamata assured jobs to five lakh people. But no one gets employment. The reality is that 84 lakh unemployed youth have applied for the unemployment stipend. Bengal was once ahead of all and showed the way to fight for independence and industrial development. Now everything is shattered and Mamata ji has done nothing,” he said.

On women’s safety, he again drew parallels between the BJP and Trinamool. “What Narendra Modi’s MLAs and MPs have done to women, here in Bengal, Mamata apparently protected those who committed this heinous crime,” he said, referring to the RG Kar rape-and-murder.

Rahul framed the electoral contest as a clash of principles. “On one side, the Congress is fighting for protection of the Constitution, unity and brotherhood, and on the other hand, the BJP-RSS are unleashing hatred, terror and pride,” he said. “Wherever Narendra Modi goes, wherever BJP and RSS people go, they only spread hatred and incite others to fight other religions and intimidate people. BJP has opened a market of hatred, whereas Congress offers love. This is our ideology, and on this ideology our country became independent, and the Constitution became functional."

Accusing Modi of compromising national interest, Rahul said: “Narendra Modi speaks a lot of big things, but he is controlled by US President Donald Trump. In the Lok Sabha during a debate, I spoke a few things about Narendra Modi, and he escaped.”

Questioning India-US trade dynamics, he alleged: “Modi has sold the agriculture sector, the small and medium industry sector, and energy security to the US, sacrificing the country's interest. Modi also sold the country's most precious data to Donald Trump. No prime minister can do such a thing without pressure.”

Escalating his attack, Rahul claimed: “Trump has two weapons. One is the Epstein file, in which Modi’s image is recorded, and Trump knows that when he opens the file, Modi will be finished. The other weapon is Adani, to whom Modi has sold our country. He has sold ports, infrastructure, solar power, wind power and cement. Modi has handed over all these sectors to Adani. The company’s name should be Mo-Dani instead of Adani.”

“Trump has the Adani company’s entire financial record. So Trump controls Modi,” he alleged. "He is not a deshbhakt, rather a deshdrohi...."

Alleging a tacit understanding between Modi and Mamata, Rahul claimed their confrontation was largely theatrics.

“Mamata Banerjee does not oppose Narendra Modi and the BJP. It is only the Congress that fights the BJP and Modi, for which I have been slapped with 36 cases and faced interrogation for over 55 hours, whereas no case has been slapped against Mamata Banerjee by the ED and the CBI,” Rahul said, urging voters to back the Congress as the only force capable of defeating the BJP.