In a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi dismissed him as “all show, no substance,” claiming that the media has inflated Modi’s image far beyond reality.
Speaking at the Congress’s Bhagidari Nyay Sammelan at Talkatora Stadium, Delhi, Rahul Gandhi recalled his interactions with the Prime Minister: “I’ve met him two or three times, sat with him in the same room, and realised he isn’t the big problem everyone thinks he is. He doesn’t have the guts — ‘Dum nahin hai’.”
For Rahul Gandhi, Modi’s towering political persona is, in his view, more of a crafted image than an actual leadership challenge. “He’s been given too much importance by the media. There’s nothing special there,” he said, taking one of his most direct personal shots at the Prime Minister in recent months.
The Politics of Representation
Rahul Gandhi also used the stage to spotlight an issue he says is deeply entrenched in India’s governance — the lack of representation of marginalised communities in key institutions. “Dalits, backward classes, tribals and minorities together make up nearly 90% of India’s population. Yet, when the ‘halwa’ was being shared after the Union Budget, there was no one from this 90% present,” he said.
Using the metaphor of “halwa” to describe the distribution of economic and bureaucratic power, Gandhi accused the government of sidelining the very communities that drive India’s economy. “You make the halwa, but someone else eats it. We are not saying they shouldn’t eat, but at least you should get a share too,” he said.
He cited data collected by the Congress government in Telangana, which showed that Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) are virtually absent from high-paying corporate jobs, even as they form the bulk of MGNREGA workers and gig economy labourers.
A Rare Admission of Regret
In a candid moment, Rahul Gandhi admitted to failing to protect OBC interests during his earlier years in politics. “I joined politics in 2004 during UPA-1. My regret is that if I had known more about your history and struggles, I would have conducted a caste census back then,” he said, calling it his personal failure rather than the party’s. “But I’m going to correct it now.”
The Congress leader also reiterated his demand for a nationwide caste census and criticised the Modi government for what he called a “deliberate attempt to exclude marginalised communities from academia and policymaking” by leaving reserved university seats vacant.
BJP Hits Back
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) swiftly responded. Its IT cell head, Amit Malviya, called Rahul Gandhi’s comments hypocritical, saying, “This is what happens when the son of a Catholic mother and a Parsi father goes around asking everyone else’s caste!”
The clash underscores how both parties are sharpening their messaging ahead of the next electoral cycle — one focusing on social justice and representation, the other on national identity and leadership image.
For Rahul Gandhi, Friday’s speech was not just about taking on Narendra Modi, but about repositioning himself as a leader willing to admit past mistakes while promising corrective action. Whether that resonates with voters remains to be seen, but his remarks have ensured that caste representation and the Prime Minister’s personality remain front and centre in India’s political conversation.
