On DAY 5 of the Lok Sabha 2024 election campaigning, Rahul Gandhi attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at a press conference at the Congress’ headquarters in New Delhi.

Here are the top takeaways from his address.

• On the “Shakti” row, he said that the Congress is fighting a hate-filled “asura” shakti. “Humari ‘asuri shakti’ se ladaai ho rahi hai, nafrat bhari ‘asuri shakti’ [We are fighting a demonic power, a hate-filled demonic power],” he told reporters.

• Gandhi spoke about the Income Tax Department freezing several of his party’s bank accounts in February, allegedly because they were late in filed tax returns. The I-T action, Gandhi stressed, came just two months before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

• “This is being done literally two months before the election campaign. One [tax] notice comes from the 90s, another notice comes from 6-7 years ago. Quantum amount- Rs 14 lakh. And the punishment? Our entire financial identity,” he said at the press conference. “Our ability to fight the election has been damaged. We have already lost a month. We are unable to get slots for advertising, and we are unable to put ads in the newspapers[…]20 per cent of India votes for us, and we are not able to pay two rupees for anything. It is being orchestrated to cripple us in the election,” he added.

• Gandhi attacked PM Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for being complicit in a criminal action against the Congress, but also against the democracy of India. “This is a criminal action against the Congress party. It is a criminal action done by the Prime Minister and the Home Minister,” he said.

• Gandhi also hit out at the courts and the Election Commission. “There are institutions in this country that are supposed to protect the democratic framework. There are the courts, the Election Commission in the country– and nothing is happening,” he said.

With inputs from agencies