'We will defeat Narendra Modi and BJP in Gujarat': Rahul Gandhi at public gathering in Ahmedabad

NEW DELHI: Congress MP Rahul Gandhi while addressing party workers in Ahmedabad on Saturday said that together they will defeat "Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders in Gujarat like they did in Ayodhya."
"Together we are going to defeat them in Gujarat. We will defeat Narendra Modi and BJP in Gujarat just like we defeated them in Ayodhya..." Rahul Gandhi said.
He also said that the people of Ayodhya lost their land when the airport was built, they were unhappy when no one invited them for the Pran Pratistha ceremony.
"The farmers of Ayodhya lost their land when the Airport was built. The people of Ayodhya were upset that no one from Ayodhya was invited to the inauguration of the Ram Temple... The movement which was started by Advani Ji, whose centre was Ayodhya, INDIA Alliance has defeated that movement in Ayodhya..." Gandhi said as quoted by ANI News agency.
He also claimed that PM Modi wanted to contest from Ayodhya, but his surveyors advised him against doing so saying he will be defeated and his political career will end.



Flagging the reasons behind BJP's loss in Faizabad constituency (which includes Ayodhya) in the general election, Rahul Gandhi said: "To clean up the area in Ayodhya to construct the Ram Temple, a lot of land was taken from the people and till date, the Narendra Modi government has not compensated them. Secondly, an international airport was built in Ayodhya on the land of farmers and even they were not compensated properly. Thirdly, not a single person of Ayodhya was present in the Ram Temple inauguration which enraged the people. These were the reasons why NDA lost in Ayodhya and INDIA alliance won. BJP has failed the movement started by LK Advani ji around Ayodhya."
Recalling the inauguration event of Ayodhya's Ram temple, the Congress MP said that Adani and Ambani were visible at the event but no poor person was seen there.
Rahul Gandhi claimed that the BJP have vandalised their office and attacked the party workers in Gujarat.
"The way they broke our office, we are going to break their government... But there are shortcomings in Gujarat Congress... There are two types of horses, one for racing and one for weddings... 'Congress race ke ghode ko shadi mein, aur shadi ke ghode ko race mein laga deti hai'... In the last elections, we did not contest against the BJP properly... In 2017, we worked hard for 3 months and the results were good... Now, we have 3 years, we will leave the finishing line behind... You are going to form the government in Gujarat after 30 years... Party leadership including me and my sister, all are going to stand with you..." Gandhi said as quoted by ANI.
During his Gujarat's visit, Gandhi plans to meet with families who have been affected by recent tragedies in the state. A party leader stated that Gandhi will offer his condolences to the families of victims of the Rajkot game zone fire, the Vadodara boat capsize, and the Morbi bridge collapse.
In addition to meeting with the affected families, Gandhi will also visit the families of five Congress workers who were arrested following a violent clash with BJP workers outside the Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) office, also known as Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan.
The confrontation, which occurred on Tuesday afternoon, was sparked by the BJP and its affiliated organizations protesting against Gandhi's alleged "anti-Hindu" remarks. The incident resulted in stone pelting, injuring seven people, including three police officers.
Ellisbridge police responded to the incident on July 3 by filing two separate FIRs. The first FIR was registered against approximately 450 workers from both parties, while the second was specifically against Congress workers, based on a complaint filed by the BJP's youth wing in Ahmedabad. As a result, five Congress workers were arrested and are currently under remand.
"Twenty-seven people including four children died in the conflagration that engulfed the gaming zone in the Nana-Mava locality of Rajkot on May 25."
Following the incident, 14 government officials were suspended, including eight from the RMC, two from the roads and buildings department, and four policemen. All eight officials from the RMC's town planning and fire department were arrested.
Recently, the court rejected the regular bail pleas of Ashok Jadeja and Kirit Jadeja, the brothers who own the land on which the game zone was operating. The duo are also partners in the firm that was managing the operations of the game zone.