Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday declared that only the Congress under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi could oust the Narendra Modi government and the efforts of leaders such as Telangana chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao to sew up a non-BJP coalition were futile.

Kharge, who joined the Bharat Jodo Yatra in Hyderabad on Tuesday, not only brought out the political content of the struggle by categorically asking the people to throw out the Narendra Modi government in 2024 but also unambiguously accepted the supremacy of Rahul in the Congress. This was his first public rally after taking over the party’s reins.

“If anyone will bring a non-BJP government, then under Rahul Gandhi’s leadership, under Congress’s leadership, we will do it. We have that strength in us,” Kharge asserted.

While there was little doubt about Rahul being the supreme leader of the party, the overwhelming success of the Bharat Jodo Yatra has reinforced that perception. After massive crowds in Kerala and Karnataka, Tuesday’s meeting in Hyderabad surpassed all previous records in terms of public response, underlining Rahul’s popularity in these states.

Kharge explicitly acknowledged this, saying: “The Bharat Jodo Yatra is Rahul Gandhi’s initiative and it is a very big achievement. The RSS-BJP is breaking the country, creating fissures in every sphere of public life. Modi lies habitually; the uprising we see in Bharat Jodo Yatra is people’s response to his lies. If he continues to lie, the entire country will rise against him.”

Kharge explained: “Modi promised 2 crore jobs every year; where are the 16 crore jobs in eight years? He distributed 75,000 appointment letters but there are 13 lakh vacancies to be filled in the government. He lied about prices. We got stuck because of truth and he fooled his way to success through lies. If you support his lies, India will be ruined. He lies about nothing happening in the last 70 years, forgetting how the Congress and its leaders like Nehru strengthened democracy, created public sector units and great institutions.”

Recalling how Modi was selling PSUs, he said: “Except air, he has handed over everything to his crony capitalists. These two — Modi & Shah — are giving everything to two industrialists. The way he is going, he will one day tax breathing because you use oxygen for survival. Remove Modi from power. Forget small grievances. You will get everything only if democracy survives.”

So far, the Congress leaders and Rahul himself had avoided discussing the 2024 elections so explicitly during the course of the Yatra. Kharge, however, demonstrated clarity about his strategy by attacking the Telangana chief minister who has been touring the country to forge Opposition unity. He said: “Why is he going to Calcutta, Chennai, Punjab…? He should look after your state. There is no difference between Modi and KCR. In Parliament, he always supported the government.”

This was his first and unambiguous message that Opposition unity is not possible by excluding the Congress and there are some parties in the Opposition camp, which were proxies of the BJP. Rahul, too, has been saying that there is no question of an alliance with the TRS. The Congress is very clear about who its allies are and is not willing to bend any further to accommodate parties whose commitments are in doubt.