Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi will address a ‘special’ press conference on today, 18 September. The conference will be held at 10 am at Indira Bhawan Auditorium in the national capital, the Congress party party said.
The agenda of the press conference has not been revealed yet sparking widespread specualtion. Rahul Gandhi‘s last press confernece was on 7 August in which he cited an analysis of data from a Lok Sabha constituency in Karnataka from the 2024 general elections to allege that the Election Commission is colluding with the BJP to ‘steal elections’ and called it a ‘crime’ against the Constitution.
The 7 August press conference by Rahul Gandhi triggered a political row with both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Election Commision (EC) targetting Gandhi over the allegations.
The Congress, however, took off a campaign called ‘vote chori’ from the press conference. Gandhi led a ‘Voter Adhikar rally’ in poll-bound Bihar on the ‘vote chori’ plank.
On 1 September, the BJP mocked Rahul Gandhi’s claim that he will soon come out with a ‘hydrogen bomb’ as part of his ‘vote chori’ allegation, saying that his “atom bomb” had turned out to be a damp squib. The saffron party also accused him of demeaning his position as LoP in the Lok Sabha with irresponsible comments.
“One really has to try hard to understand what he means in his speeches in and outside Parliament… The world has not really seen the impact of a hydrogen bomb. Now Rahul Gandhi is talking about it,” BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said sarcastically.
Recently, Rahul Gandhi urged BJP leaders not to panic, warning that a ‘hydrogen bomb’ of truth is coming soon. Gandhi emphasised that the manipulation of votes is real and that the upcoming evidence will make it clear.
“The BJP people showed black flags to us. I want to tell them, listen carefully. Have you heard of anything bigger than an atom bomb? What is bigger than that; it is a hydrogen bomb. In Mahadevapura, we had shown an atom bomb. BJP people, be ready, a hydrogen bomb is coming. People are soon going to find out your (BJP) reality of vote chori,” Gandhi said at a mega rally in Patna after his foot-march through Bihar earlier this month.
Wrote to PM on Punjab floods
Earlier on Wednesday, Gandhi has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Punjab floods demanding quick assessment of the damage and a comprehensive relief package for those affected.
The Rae Bareli Member of Parliament said the ₹1,600-crore initial relief announced by the Central government is “grave injustice” to the people of Punjab and asserted that the crisis demands a bolder response.
“The ₹1,600 crore initial relief announced by the Union government does grave injustice to the people of Punjab. Estimates suggest that the state has suffered a loss of at least 20,000 crore.
“This crisis demands a bolder response. I request the government to facilitate a quick assessment of the damage and deliver a comprehensive relief package,” Gandhi said in his letter to PM Modi.
The Congress leader said the catastrophic floods have ravaged Punjab as he himself witnessed the shocking devastation.
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