’13 states me zero, fir bhi hero?’: PM Modi’s ‘Sholay’ twist as Rahul Gandhi hailed for Congress win

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday gave a ‘Sholay’ twist to the Congress party’s win in the recent Lok Sabha elections. He said that in the grand old party, which has been in an attacking mode after winning 99 seats, a game was being played where the Congress ecosystem was trying to convince a ‘baalak’ that he had won.     

The Prime Minister said that the statements by Congress leaders have even surpassed dialogues of the blockbuster movie, Sholay. He referred to a scene, where Jai (played by Amitabh Bachchan) defends his friend Veeru, played by Dharmendra, while discussing a marriage proposal with Mausi.

“Teesri baar to haare hai, par Mausi moral victory to hai na (we have lost the third time, but it is a moral victory for us),” PM Modi said in a swipe at Congress. “Terah rajyo me zero seats aayi hai, areey mausi terah rajyo me zero seats aayi hai…par hero to hai na (we have got zero seats, but he is hero na),” PM Modi said in an apparent jibe at Rahul Gandhi, who has been credited to have revived the Congress. 

PM Modi continued: “Party ki lutiya to duboi hai, areey mausi…party abhi bhi saanse to le rahi hai (Party’s decline has happened but it is still breathing).” He said the situation in the Congress was exactly the same where its supporters were trying to convince that the grand old party had won despite defeat. He urged the Congress leaders to not suppress the mandate of the people in fake celebrations of victory.

During the address, he repeatedly fired barbs at Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha. Recalling an incident, he said there was a boy who scored 99 marks and he used to show it to everyone. “When people heard 99, they used to encourage him a lot. Then a teacher came and said why are you distributing sweets? The teacher then said he did not score 99 out of 100 but 99 out of 543. Now who will explain to that child that you have created a world record in failure.”

The Congress won 99 seats in the Lok Sabha elections, 47 up from 2019. PM Modi, however, said that it was the Congress party’s third biggest defeat in history. He said a new drama has been started to gain sympathy but the country knows the truth that Rahul Gandhi is out on bail in a case of embezzlement of thousands of crores of rupees. “He has been convicted in a case of calling OBC people thieves. He had to apologize after making an irresponsible statement in the Supreme Court. There is a case against him for insulting a great personality like great freedom fighter Veer Savarkar. Today the country is telling him, tumse na ho payega.”