Rahul vs Shah

Modi is finished” and “their time is over”, Prime Minister’s rule is entering its final phase.

Rahul Gandhi Leader of Opposition

Under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, Congress is once again treading the path of appeasement.

Amit Shah,Union home minister 

metro india news  I hyderabad

The political battle between the Congress and the BJP sharpened on Wednesday, with Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi declaring that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s political career was in its final phase, while Union Home Minister Amit Shah hit back, accusing the Congress of returning to “appeasement politics” over its decision on Vande Mataram.

The contrasting messages emerged from the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in New Delhi, where Gandhi adopted an aggressive posture and sought to rally the party against the Modi government. According to sources who attended the four-hour meeting, Gandhi told Congress leaders that “Modi is finished” and “their time is over”, asserting that the Prime Minister’s rule was entering its final phase and that a search for his successor had begun.

Gandhi also claimed that the BJP government was “completely on the back foot” and urged Congress workers to intensify their political battle while taking pride in the party’s ideology and legacy.

The CWC meeting, chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge at Indira Bhawan, was attended by around 88 leaders, including Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and chief ministers of Congress-ruled states. Around 33 leaders spoke during the deliberations.

Gandhi invoked the Congress’s role in the freedom struggle, telling party workers that the organisation had fought the British and would similarly confront the political challenges posed by the BJP. He reportedly said Modi was “scared of Congress” and described the party as the only force capable of effectively challenging the BJP.

In remarks reported from the meeting, Gandhi also targeted Amit Shah, saying both the Prime Minister and the Home Minister were “finished”. At the same time, he stressed that unity was essential for the Congress to mount an effective challenge. Referring to the Trinamool Congress in West Bengal as an example of what could happen through political disintegration, he said ideology and unity remained the Congress’s principal strengths.

The Congress’s offensive was not confined to rhetoric. The CWC decided to expand its Chhatron Ki Goonj campaign against examination paper leaks and alleged irregularities to hundreds of cities. Congress-ruled states have been asked to submit reports within a month on reforms required in their education and examination systems. Kharge accused the Modi government of damaging the future of the country’s youth and attacked what he described as failures in the education and examination system.

The CWC also stepped up its attack over allegations concerning donations and assets linked to the Ram Janmabhoomi temple trust in Ayodhya. It demanded a Supreme Court-monitored independent probe and a comprehensive audit of the trust’s accounts and assets, and resolved to take the issue to the village and panchayat levels.

Other issues discussed included alleged Chinese incursions in Arunachal Pradesh, E20 fuel, agricultural and energy security and women’s reservation. The party reiterated its demand for 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha from the 2029 elections, based on the existing strength of 543 seats.

The Congress also reaffirmed its 1937 position on Vande Mataram, deciding that only its first two stanzas would be sung at party events. Kharge cited the 1937 CWC resolution and said leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and Subhas Chandra Bose had supported the position following discussions with Rabindranath Tagore.

Amit Shah responded by turning the Vande Mataram decision into a fresh political confrontation with the Congress. He accused the party of “appeasement” and said its 1937 decision to restrict the song had contributed to the strengthening of the two-nation theory and eventually Partition.

Shah said the Modi government had corrected what he called a “historic mistake” during the 150th anniversary of Vande Mataram by giving the complete song a legal framework and deciding that it would be sung at government programmes.

“Under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, Congress is once again treading the path of appeasement,” Shah said, describing the Congress decision as an insult to Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and freedom fighters. The Congress rejected the charge. Party general secretary K.C. Venugopal said Vande Mataram was deeply connected with the freedom struggle and accused the BJP of using the issue for political purposes. “BJP was not part of the freedom struggle. Vande Mataram was a part of the freedom struggle; it is emotional for us, but political for them,” he said.

Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh also attacked BJP leaders, calling them “fraudulent nationalists”. The exchange underlined the emerging Rahul Gandhi-Narendra Modi face-off, with both sides seeking to frame the political narrative around issues ranging from youth and jobs to national security and cultural identity.

While Gandhi sought to project the Modi government as being on the defensive and the Congress as the principal challenger to the BJP, Shah portrayed the Congress as returning to an old politics of appeasement. The BJP dismissed the CWC meeting as a “whitewash committee” and accused the Congress of avoiding introspection. Congress, meanwhile, maintained that its latest campaign would take its issues directly to the grassroots.

With assembly elections approaching in Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur, both parties are preparing to intensify their campaigns. The latest clash suggests that the political contest between Rahul Gandhi and Modi is set to become increasingly direct, with youth aspirations, education, national security and cultural symbolism emerging as key battlegrounds.