Washington/IBNS: Leader of Opposition and Congress top leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party in his address to the Indian diaspora in Dallas, Texas in the United States claiming people's fear of the ruling party in his backyard faded soon after the Lok Sabha election results.

The BJP suffered a jolt in 2024 with its tally of seats nosediving from previous 303 to 240 making it compulsory to avail the allies' support to form the government.

Speaking in Dallas, Gandhi said he talked about Abhayamudra, the symbol of fearlessness that exists in all religions. He claimed the BJP is unable to understand this.

"The other thing that happened was that the fear of the BJP vanished. We saw that immediately, within minutes of the election result, nobody in India was scared of the BJP or the Prime Minister of India," Rahul said.

"The Opposition is the voice of the people. Our main focus is to raise the issues concerning the people of India...," he added.

The Congress MP, who was re-elected to the Lok Sabha from his family bastion Rae Bareli in 2024, claimed his party's vision towards India is completely opposite to what BJP's parental ideologue Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) professes.

"The RSS believes that India is one idea and we believe that India is a multiplicity of ideas. We believe that everybody should be allowed to participate, allowed to dream, and given space regardless of their caste, language, religion, tradition, or history," said Rahul Gandhi.

While the BJP suffered a setback in the Lok Sabha polls, Congress improved its performance and won 99 seats leading the anti-Modi front, INDIA to 232.

Despite failing to touch the majority mark (272), the BJP managed to sail through with the support of its major allies like Telugu Desam Party, Janata Dal (United) and Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas).

In Uttar Pradesh, which is the stronghold of the BJP for more than five years now, the Prime Minister's party was trounced by former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party which in an alliance with the Congress won 43 out of 80 seats.

The BJP ended up winning only 33 in the most populous state of the country.