Rahul Gandhi denies ‘Shakti’ he referred to was ‘Shakti Mata’; Offers elaborate explanation

Amid attacks over his ‘Shakti’ remarks, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that the statement had been taken out of context and blamed the “lies-manufacturing machinery” of the BJP for creating a needless controversy over his statement.

While addressing a large gathering on the culmination of the Congress’ Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Mumbai on Sunday, Rahul Gandhi said, “There is a word ‘shakti’ (might) in Hindi. We are fighting against the ‘shakti’ (might of the state). The question is, what is that ‘shakti’ and what does it entail for us?”

He took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the latter twists his remarks if he doesn’t like them but the fact is that he spoke the plain truth though it left the ruling party offended and the BJP, which has “begun a smear campaign” against him.

Taking to X, Rahul Gandhi posted an explanation of what he meant by taking on the ‘shakti’, which the BJP equated with the revered and venerated figure in Hinduism. “The ‘shakti’ which we are fighting is deeply enmeshed in system, the PM is just a mask of it,” he wrote on X.

“It is the ‘shakti (might)’ that has destroyed constitutional bodies like the Election Commission, made agencies like the CBI, ED a puppet and taken the whole constitutional set-up for a ride,” MP Rahul Gandhi explained.

“It’s because of this ‘shakti’ that poor and marginalised farmers are being driven to more pitiable situations, while big corporates are getting bank waivers of hundreds to thousands of crores,” he explained.

He further said that the media had stopped reporting facts and was saluting this ‘shakti.’ He made it clear that his assertions and fight against this ‘undeclared power’ is not about any religion but it is against corruption and fake narratives.