Senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Friday said that his party colleague and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has ignited an enthusiasm amongst younger voters over the last few months. Tharoor further said the BJP should take this seriously and pay attention to the shift in the public mood.
"…I can tell you that I think Rahul Gandhi has ignited an enthusiasm, particularly amongst younger voters in the last few months, which I think the BJP would be well advised to sit up and pay attention to," Tharoor said at NDTV's World Summit 2026.
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"In fact, I suspect it's because they have paid attention to him that they are trying to demonise him in this way," he added.
Tharoor's remarks came a day after PM Modi alleged that the Congress was keeping only one person in the limelight and ignoring the voices of young opposition leaders.
Without naming LoP Gandhi, PM Modi had said during the same summit" “I don’t know how long Congress will continue putting the country’s interests at stake to launch its failed product. In a year, there are not as many launches from Sriharikota as the number of failed attempts Congress makes to launch its leader,” Modi said on Thursday.
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The PM also accused the Congress of putting India’s reputation at stake to protect its leadership. “Congress can continue on its path of decline; we have no problem with that. But to protect its family from repeated failures, it is putting the country’s reputation on trial. The grapes are so sour that Congress is trying to cut down the very vine that bears them,” Modi said.
Rahul Gandhi leads attack against govt
As Congress has ramped up its attack on the BJP-led central government, Gandhi has led the charge.
Amid raging controversy over NEET paper leak and other examination irregularities, Gandhi started a nationwide youth outreach campaign called ‘Chhatron ki Goonj’ (voice of the students). He started the campaign with students in June, 2026 in Kota, Rajasthan, which is the hub of coaching institutes in India for aspirants of medical and engineering entrance exams. Since then, the Congress leader has held the programme in different Indian cities such as Chennai, Pune, Dehradun and Indore.
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He also led the INDIA bloc's protest against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over the alleged discrepancies in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls.
On October 12, Gandhi joined INDIA bloc's protest march to the Supreme Court along with MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Samajwadi party chief Akhilesh Yadav and other opposition leaders.
While the march was halted by the Delhi Police barricades, the legal team of the Congress party reached the top court where they filed a plea against CEC and the Election Commission over the ‘vote chori’ allegation.