MUMBAI: The Opposition INDIA bloc kickstarted its election campaign from Mumbai’s iconic Shivaji Park on Sunday on the day which marked the end of Rahul Gandhi Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra. In the presence of a huge crowd, almost all the big leaders of the INDIA bloc were present except Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav who is down with viral fever.

The rally which was intended to be a big show of strength for the INDIA bloc saw participation by AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren, former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav, former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray of the Shiv Sena (UTB), NCP (SP) president Sharad Pawar, AAP leader Saurabh Bhardwaj, CPI general secretary Dipankar Bhattarchaya, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren.

Giving his speech, Rahul Gandhi said that the opposition's fight was not with one party or one person but with an ideology. He said people from opposition parties were leaving and joining the BJP because of fear of agencies. Rahul also took a swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday, saying that he cannot win the Lok Sabha elections without EVMs and blamed him for using central agencies like ED and CBI.

He said, "Without EVM, Narendra Modi cannot win elections. We requested the election commission, to show us the EVM machine and show us the machine to our experts they refused to show us."

He further added, "There is one power. We are fighting against that power. Raja ki aatma EVM mein hai. It is in ED and CBI. Many top leaders from Maharashtra have left the Congress party and they cry and call my mother. Sonia ji I am ashamed, I cannot fight them and cannot go to jail. There are many such people who are threatened. Just like this Shiv Sena and NCP people went away. They all went because they were threatened."

Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin hitting out at PM Narendra Modi for his “foreign trips and fake propaganda” in his 10-year tenure, AAP's Saurabh Bhardwaj said none of the INDIA leaders are scared of going to jail, in a reference to Opposition leaders, who were facing ED or CBI cases, Former Jammu and Kashmir CM Farooq Abdullah alleged that the EVM is a 'thief' urging people to check the VVPAT after casting their votes.

RJD leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar, Tejashwi Yadav, commended Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra and highlighted that the rally aimed to convey a message to ‘save India’s Constitution, brotherhood and to defeat hatred’.

The mega rally of the INDIA bloc comes just a day after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections which coincided with Rahul Gandhi’s conclusion of his 6,700-kilometer Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Mumbai. The yatra, which began on January 14 from Manipur, covered 16 states and 110 districts. Rahul Gandhi concluded his 63-day journey by paying homage to Dr. BR Ambedkar at Chaityabhoomi in Dadar and reciting the Preamble of the Constitution.