TNR Desk
The BJP’s jibe “daro mat” trended on X on Friday (May 3, 2024) as the Congress announced its former president Rahul Gandhi’s candidature from Raebareli instead of Amethi, a seat he had lost to saffron party’s firebrand leader Smriti Irani in 2019.
Raebareli has been vacated by Rahul’s mother Sonia Gandhi, who opted for the Rajya Sabha route from Rajasthan to reach Parliament this time.
Addressing a rally in West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi mocked the Congress leader using the Wayanad MP’s own words. “I had said shehzade (Rahul Gandhi) is afraid of losing in Wayanad and the moment voting ends, he will start looking for another seat. All his loyalists wanted him to contest from Amethi, but he panicked so much that he ran from there and is now looking towards Raebareli. These leaders keep moving around telling people ‘Daro Mat’ (don’t be scared). Today, I will also tell them ‘Daro mat, bhaago mat’ (don’t be scared, don’t run away),” the PM said.
PM Modi also attacked former Congress president Sonia Gandhi saying he had predicted that both mother and son would avoid contesting from their seats out of fear. “I had said, their biggest leader will not dare to contest. She will run away out of fear. She ran to Rajasthan and from there took Rajya Sabha route to reach Parliament,” he said.
Other BJP leaders too targeted the Congress over the decision to field Rahul from Raebareli instead of Amethi, where Smriti Irani is contesting again after defeating Rahul in the 2019 last Lok Sabha election. Union Minister Anurag Thakur, the BJP’s candidate from Hamirpur in Himachal Pradesh, too took a ‘daro mat, daro mat, daro mat’ jibe at Rahul while talking to the media at the Gaggal airport in Kangra.
