"This is already done deal": LoP Rahul Gandhi expresses confidence in defeating PM Modi during Hyderabad's Bharat Summit

Speaking in Hyderabad at the Bharat Summit 2026,the Congress leader claimed that growing public discontent across the country, particularly in the national capital, signals an inevitable political shift against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah.

"I can tell you already, with confidence, that we are going to defeat PM Modi and we are going to get rid of PM Modi," Gandhi stated. "And you can see it, you can see it on our streets, you can see it in Delhi, you can see it in the fear that the Prime Minister and HM Amit Shah have. This is already a done deal."

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi launched a sharp attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), alleging a "fusion between politics and business" and claiming that the line between industrialist Gautam Adani and the Prime Minister has "evaporated."

Addressing the Bharat Summit 2026 at the Hyderabad International Convention Centre (HICC) in Madhapur in the presence of Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and other dignitaries, Gandhi alleged that political finance and corporate expansion were intertwined.

"Today we have a businessman in this country. Before the BJP came to power, he was the 600th richest man in the world. Some months ago, he became the second richest man in the world. How did he become the richest man? By a fusion of politics and business. The line between business and politics, between Adani and PM Modi, has evaporated. It does not exist anymore. And you can see the outcome in political finance. You can see the outcome in the amount of assets that Adani captures... The result is that the BJP's assets grow elevenfold in a decade... We found that our instruments don't work. Every single instrument that we were used to that was effective- media, press conferences, interviews, public meetings- nothing worked... We had no support. Institutions were taken away... We discovered that no matter how many institutions the fascists control, no matter how much money they have, a direct link with the people of India is more powerful than anything they can have", he said.

Earlier, Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi on Saturday questioned the integrity of electoral rolls, alleging large-scale voter deletions and unexplained additions between the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and subsequent state Assembly polls in Hyderabad at Bharat Summit.

Referring to nationwide voter roll deletions carried out during revision exercises, Gandhi questioned the legitimacy of past electoral outcomes if millions of registered participants were subsequently classified as non-existent."140 million people who voted in the 2024 Lok Sabha election were declared as either non-existent voters or non-voters a few months ago," Gandhi stated. "If the Election Commission has declared 140 million voters illegal non-voters, then how is that election possibly legitimate?"

To illustrate his concerns, the Congress leader pointed to the stark contrast between the 2024 Lok Sabha results and the state Assembly elections held in Maharashtra later that year, where the opposition alliance saw its parliamentary gains reversed.

"We have an example in Maharashtra where we have a national election; our alliance fights, wins the national election. Three months later, we are decimated," Gandhi said. "We start looking into the details, and we find that we get the same votes in both elections. 7 million new voters are added in three months, and every single one of those 7 million voters votes for the BJP, and they win the election."

Gandhis remarks come amid an ongoing political confrontation between the opposition and the Election Commission of India (ECI) regarding the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged discrepancies in voter turnout data.

While Gandhi and the Congress party have repeatedly demanded machine-readable digital voter lists and accused the poll body of failing to address irregularities, both the Election Commission and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have strongly rejected the allegations.

The ECI has previously dismissed similar claims as baseless and called upon Gandhi to submit formal declarations under election rules rather than making public accusations, while BJP leaders have accused the Leader of the Opposition of attempting to undermine constitutional institutions without verifiable evidence.

Gandhi was speaking at the concluding day of the two-day Bharat Summit 2026 at the HICC Novotel venue in Hyderabad, alongside Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and delegates from around 70 countries.

During his visit to the Telangana capital, Gandhi also interacted with local gig workers, highlighting state welfare measures such as accident and health insurance coverage, while simultaneously critiquing the central government's handling of democratic institutions.

The BJP, meanwhile, has strongly pushed back against Gandhi's statements and the Bharat Summit itself. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, speaking in Hyderabad days earlier, dismissed the Congress party's electoral prospects, describing the party as being "on a ventilator" and asserting that Gandhi would never become Prime Minister.

Additionally, Telangana BJP leaders staged protests against Gandhi's visit over alleged unfulfilled state election promises, while Union Minister Bandi Sanjay criticised the Bharat Summit as working against India's interests.(ANI)