‘Shakti’ row: Amid political storm, MP Rahul Gandhi says comments taken out of context

New Delhi, March 18: Being at the receiving end of vociferous attacks over his ‘Shakti’ remarks, senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday said that the statement had been taken out of context.

The Congress MP blamed the “lies-manufacturing machinery” of the BJP for creating a needless controversy over his statement and also took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, alleging that the latter twists his remarks if he doesn’t like them.

Further defending his remarks, MP Rahul Gandhi said that he spoke the plain truth but that left the ruling party offended and the BJP subsequently began a smear campaign against him.

Former Congress President Rahul, taking to X, posted an elaborate explanation of what he meant by taking on the ‘shakti’, which the BJP equated with the revered and venerated figure in Hinduism.

“The ‘shakti’ which we are fighting is deeply enmeshed in system, the PM is just a mask of it,” MP Rahul Gandhi posted on X.

“It is the ‘shakti (force)’ that has destroyed constitutional bodies like the Election Commission, made agencies like the CBI, ED a puppet and taken the whole constitutional set-up for a ride,” MP Rahul Gandhi explained.

“It’s because of this ‘shakti’ that poor and marginalised farmers are being driven to more pitiable situations, while big corporates are getting bank waivers of hundreds to thousands of crores,” he opined.

Lashing out at the media, the Gandhi scion said that the fourth pillar of democracy had stopped reporting facts and was saluting this ‘shakti.’

He also said that his assertions and fight against this ‘undeclared power’ is not about any religion but it is against corruption and fake narratives.

The Congress leader, found himself in the midst of a row, over his remarks at Mumbai’s Shivaji Park on Sunday. Addressing a large gathering on the culmination of the Congress’ Nyay Yatra, he said, “There is a word 'shakti' (might) in Hindi. We are fighting against the ‘shakti’ (might of the state). The question is, what is that ‘shakti’ and what does it entail for us?”