At the Jan Aakrosh Rally in Delhi on Sunday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi castigated the BJP government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi over a range of issues, including ‘corruption’, attacks on Dalits and tribals, crimes against women, Rafale deal with France, judicial crisis, agrarian crisis, India’s relations with China, etc. He said silence of PM Modi on key issues concerning the common man was worrisome.

Jan Aakrosh Rally was organised as a mark to kickstart the 2019 poll campaign. The rally was attended by Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and other leaders drawn from across the country.

Rahul Gandhi said the Congress will win the 2019 general elections as people were fed up with the failures of the current dispensation. “The Congress will win every election from now on and will also emerge victorious in 2019,” he said.

“The Chinese are aggressively pursuing militarisation in Doklam. Despite this, all that PM Modi does is hold a “no-agenda” meeting with the Chinese President,” Rahul said, pointing to Modi’s recent visit to Wuhan in China.

“PM Modi says “Beti Bachao Beti Padhao” and, ironically, the members of his own party are assaulting women,” he said. Rahul alleged that atrocities against Dalits have gone up and the PM hasn’t spoken a word on the issue.

“Under PM Modi, for the first time in the history of our country, Supreme Court judges have had to reach out to people for justice,” Rahul said. He raised the issue of plight of farmers, saying “Congress is the only party that can take care of farmers’ demands”.

On Rafale jets deal with France, Rahul said: “PM Modi snatched away the Rafale deal from an experienced PSU like HAL and gave it away to an inexperienced private entity owned by his friend.”

The Congress president also highlighted the alleged misuse of position by Union Minister Piyush Goyal, who, he said, “makes dubious business deals benefitting companies linked to him through his position. However, PM Modi doesn’t utter a single word on this”.

Pointing out “lies” in the speeches by Prime Minister, Rahul said: “When PM Modi speaks, people have to search hard for shreds of truth within his speeches.”

On Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) role, Rahul said: “The RSS is slowly taking over our democratic institutions and destroying them from within while PM Modi watches silently.”

On criticism of the Congress party and its leaders by the BJP, Rahul said: “PM Modi had said that Congress did nothing in 70 years and demanded 60 months for change. I will tell you what he has done in 60 months, he has hurt the backbone of the informal sector, could not take a stand in front of China, no jobs to youth. Congress party is like the water which has nurtured the foundation of the country.”

Sonia Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh also addressed the gathering at Delhi’s Ram Lila maidan.