Striking an emotional chord with the people of Jammu and Kashmir, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Thursday said he considers himself their soldier in New Delhi, and added his doors are always open for party workers -- "the lions of the Congress".
Taking a dig at the prime minister, Gandhi said Modi's body language and confidence have drastically changed after the parliamentary poll results.
"You know my relationship with you. It is not a political connection. It is a relationship of love and that of my family's background. My family comes from your state," the Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha told Congress workers here.
He was addressing them on the second and concluding day of his visit to poll-bound Jammu and Kashmir.
"So, you should always feel that you have a sepoy in Delhi. I am your sepoy. Whatever you need, my doors are always open for you," he said.
"You only have to give me an order, and I will be present before you," Gandhi said amid amid huge applause.
Flanked by Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, Gandhi referred to party leaders as his 'generals' and the workers as 'sepoys'. He emphasised that both must be respected in all situations, including during alliances with other parties.
In an apparent dig at former Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, without naming him, Gandhi told the party workers, "When there was a difficult time, and you and your ideology were under attack, you still fought on the ground, keeping the flag flying high. Several people threw down the flag and ran away. You did not run away. You faced bullets, sticks, and abuses, and stood your ground firmly. I call you the lions of the Congress." Asserting that the Congress and its workers have shaken Prime Minister Modi's confidence, Gandhi remarked he has lost the self-assured body language he displayed before the elections.
"Congress workers have given him so much psychological tension that his confidence has been badly hit. Congress workers have forced him to bow before the Constitution. He is not the same PM he was before the elections," he added.
He affirmed that the Congress will continue to challenge the BJP across the country.
"Whenever they try to do any mischief, they will find the Congress challenging them. The Congress and its workers have saved the Constitution and democracy in the country. We will thwart their design. They will not be allowed to pass their bills," he said.
He said the Congress is engaged in a battle of ideologies with the BJP. "It is a fight between the ideologies of Congress and the RSS." On the issue of ticket distribution by the Congress in Jammu and Kashmir, Gandhi expressed his desire to see tickets being given to grassroots workers. "They should have the opportunity to become MLAs. I want to see them in assembly." He also called for the restoration of Jammu and Kashmir's statehood at the earliest. He said the people of J&K have gained nothing under the current regime, which has handed over all the region's resources to "outsiders".
Gandhi and Kharge were welcomed and honoured with a Dogri pagri and picture of Mata Vaishnodevi.
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