Rahul Gandhi has no right to talk about democracy, his grandmother imposed Emergency: Amit Shah

JODHPUR: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has no right to talk about democracy now as his grandmother and former prime minister Indira Gandhi put lakhs of people in jail and banned political parties during the Emergency, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said on Monday.

He hit back at INDIA bloc parties over their ‘Loktantra Bachoa’ (save democracy) rally at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Sunday, saying “no matter how many parties you gather, only Modi is going to come” as prime minister post-elections. The one who commits corruption will go behind the bars, the home minister asserted at his election rally in Jodhpur.

The people of the country are ready to make Narendra Modi the prime minister for a third time, he said, adding India will become the third largest economy during his next term.

Shah’s reaction came a day after top INDIA bloc leaders exhorted the people to defeat the BJP to save democracy and the Constitution and alleged that the opposition has been deprived of a level-playing field in the Lok Sabha elections due to the government’s “dictatorial” actions.

Rahul Gandhi had accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of trying to do “match-fixing” in the Lok Sabha polls and warned that if the BJP wins the election through this endeavour and “changes” the Constitution, then the whole country would be “finished”.

The public meeting was aimed at highlighting the issue of “attack on democracy” including the alleged misuse of agencies against opposition leaders in the aftermath of the arrest of AAP chief Kejriwal and JMM leader Hemant Soren and income tax notices to parties.