‘King’s soul is in EVM': Rahul Gandhi's dig at PM Modi as Congress Yatra ends

In a sharp attack directed towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that the "soul of the King is in the EVM (Electronic Voting Machine)". Addressing a public rally in Mumbai where the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra concluded, he stated that "PM Modi cannot win the elections without EVMs".

"There is a word 'Shakti' in Hinduism. We are fighting against a Shakti. The question is, what is that Shakti? The soul of the King is in the EVM. This is true. The soul of the King is in the EVM and in every institution of the country, in ED, CBI, and the Income Tax department," Rahul said.

He added, "Without EVMs, Narendra Modi cannot win elections. We requested the Election Commission to show us the EVM machines and allow our experts to examine them, but they refused. We enquired about the machine and the paper coming out from it, but they declined to count those papers."

The opposition parties have been alleging the possibility of BJP tampering with the electronic voting machines to turn poll outcomes in their favour.

Other senior leaders who spoke at the Mumbai rally also objected to the EVMs, stating that when the INDIA alliance comes to power, they will remove the EVM machines.

Rahul Gandhi also criticised the central government for 'misusing the agencies' against opposition leaders. He even alleged that late Finance Minister Arun Jaitely from the BJP had once said they would file a case against him if he spoke about land acquisition.

"The entire system is under control. When their government first came to power, Arun Jaitley came to me and said, 'Don't speak about land acquisition.' I asked why I shouldn't speak about it. He said if I spoke, they would put a case on me," the Congress leader said.

He further said that during his 50-hour questioning by the Enforcement Directorate, one officer told him, “You are not scared of anyone, you can defeat Narendra Modi”.

On leaders quitting Congress, especially in Maharashtra, Rahul Gandhi said they were threatened by the BJP, and they had conveyed it to Sonia Gandhi.

"Many top leaders from Maharashtra leave the Congress party and they cry and call my mother to say, 'Sonia ji, I am ashamed, I cannot fight them and cannot go to jail.' Many such people are threatened. Just like Shiv Sena and NCP people went away. They all left because they were threatened," the Wayanad MP added.

The Congress rally at Mumbai's Shivaji Park marked the culmination of the Nyay Yatra, which had commenced from strife-torn Manipur on January 14.