Rahul's shock & awe for Modi in LS

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday launched a no-holds-barred attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi accusing him of launching a "jumla" strike on the nation and declared that a united Opposition would defeat him in the next Lok Sabha elections.

Participating in the debate on the no-confidence motion against the NDA government, Rahul tore into Modi's pre-election claims of being the guardian of the national exchequer and accused him of being a "collaborator" (bhaagidaar) of a small group of corrupt businessmen who pump huge amounts of money in "marketing the prime minister of India".

After the stare and dare, the Congress president left the House stunned by walking up to the prime minister and giving him a huge bear hug.

Modi appeared startled by Rahul's actions and froze in his seat. He soon recovered and called Rahul back to his seat, shook hands, patted him on the shoulder and smiled at him.

"I have not an iota of hatred against you. You hate me. You may call me Pappu, you can use expletives for me. But I don't hate you or have even slightest of anger for you. I am the Congress," Rahul said at the end of his nearly 40-minute fiery speech.

The Congress president's 45-minute speech in the Lok Sabha was a charge sheet against the government for failure on numerous fronts such as the agrarian crisis, foreign policy, curbing corruption and safety of women.

Rahul also targeted Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman over the Rafale fighter aircraft deal.

He referred to the speech of TDP member Jayadev Galla, who initiated the debate on no-confidence motion and said he sensed a certain anxiety and a deep feeling of pain.

"You are the victim of a 21st-century political weapon called the 'jumla strike'. First, there is a great sense of excitement and happiness and then there is a feeling of shock and then there are hour-long speeches," Rahul said.

He added that Galla was not the lone victim and that the farmers, youth, tribals, women and small businessmen all have suffered from the "jumla strike" of the prime minister.

The Congress president went on to describe how demonetisation and GST had hit the common man and small businesses.

"The prime minister does not know the pain of the poor. You took away their money and you cannot change this reality," an unusually combative Rahul said, taking the BJP members by surprise.

The Congress president's sharp attack had virtually all the BJP members on their feet in protest.

At least seven Union ministers were seen raising slogans against Rahul prompting Speaker Sumitra Mahajan to adjourn the proceedings briefly.

During the adjournment, Opposition leaders gathered around Rahul congratulating him for his speech.

At the same time, the prime minister went into a huddle with his ministers Rajnath Singh and Sushma Swaraj, apparently to discuss on how to counter the Congress' attack.

Resuming his speech, Rahul said he was surprised as some ruling party members also congratulated him for his speech.

"This feeling is there in the entire country. Our job is to connect these feelings. The entire Opposition and a few people among you..together we are going to defeat the prime minister in the election," he said.