Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out at Opposition parties that claimed on Tuesday that the EVMs were being manipulated in the first three phases of elections, while addressing a rally here in front of over 1.5 lakh people on Wednesday.

Jubilant over the 2.5 lakh turnout in Ranchi on Tuesday evening and over 1.5 lakh here on Wednesday, Modi was in his oratorical element. He said the mahamilawatis (big frauds) realised which way the wind was blowing and that they stood no chance.

Taking a dig at the Opposition alliance, he said they were looking for excuses to defend their poor show by questioning the credibility of the EVMs. “Just like a child who makes excuses to justify his underperformance in exams, Opposition parties have started directing their anger at the EVMs and the voting process. The Opposition has no option but to accept defeat,” he said.

Hitting out at the Congress, Modi said the party that ended up shedding tears when Pakistan threatened India was eyeing the seat in Delhi. Modi scoffed at Rahul for “daydreaming” about becoming PM and lambasted Karnataka CM H.D. Kumaraswamy for his alleged remark on the armed forces.

“Those who believe that the poor join the army for food should drown to death. Arre doob maro (Go drown to death),” he said, asking why the Congress, partner in the state coalition, was silent.

He also again proved he had done his homework well as he referred to slain CRPF jawan Vijay Soreng, a Jharkhand native who was among the 40 personnel killed in the Pulwama attack on February 14 when he asked whether his family sent him to join the force as it did not have food.

In a veiled dig at Congress president Rahul Gandhi, contesting from Amethi, but not naming anyone, Modi said people who could not even win Assembly seats under their Parliamentary constituency were dreaming of becoming the Prime Minister. In Amethi, the BJP had won four of the five Assembly seats in the 2017 UP state elections while the fifth had gone to the Samajwadi Party.

The PM also claimed Naxalites and terrorists got bold whenever the Congress was in power and appealed to people to again elect a majority government to control the menace of Naxalism and terrorism. Referring to the attack in Sri Lanka on Easter, Modi said before 2014, even India faced such strikes but all that changed afterwards.