‘Arrest us all’: Rahul Gandhi challenges Modi, urges youth to keep protesting

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday urged the youth to “keep protesting” and vowed to defeat the Narendra Modi government, accusing it of attacking the Constitution.

Gandhi, who is in Chennai for his ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ event, described “cowardice” as the “core characteristic” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the RSS.

He also named Union Home Minister Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval, claiming that they were gradually finding their room for manoeuvre shrinking.

“I've been fighting Narendra Modi and the RSS for over a decade now. I understand them like you would understand your opponent — inside out, like the back of my hand,” Gandhi said in a post on X.
“The core characteristic of these people is ‘cowardice’,” the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

Describing Modi, Shah, Bhagwat, Kumar and Doval as the “villains of this story”, Gandhi said they were “slowly finding the space closing around them”.
“Mr Modi, do whatever you want. Call out all the police: 10,000, 20,000, 50,000, whatever you want. Arrest all the leaders. Arrest all the young people. Arrest us all. We are surrounding you, and we are not going to back down,” he said.

Gandhi asserted that his party had already gathered the information needed to defend the Constitution and protect the voice of the Indian people.
“Mark my words: we already have the information we need. We are going to defend our Constitution. We are going to protect the voice of the Indian people. And we are going to ensure that what was done to India over the last 10-15 years will never, ever be done again,” he said.

Expressing pride in the country's youth, Gandhi urged them to continue their protests and assured them of his support. “We are standing with you,” he said, adding that his party would ensure the defeat of the government and those he accused of attacking the Constitution.
Gandhi also shared a video of his remarks on X.

His comments came amid the Cockroach Janta Party's (CJP) protest against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar at Jantar Mantar in Delhi on Saturday.

The Delhi Police detained more than 3,000 protesters attempting to reach the protest site. More than 600 people with criminal records were also detained as a preventive measure, police said.

The police said permission had not been granted for the protest and prohibitory orders were in force in the New Delhi area.