In Patparganj, Rahul urged voters to back Congress candidate Anil Chaudhary, claiming that the sitting MLA, AAP’s Manish Sisodia, had “run away” after being implicated as the “architect of the liquor scam”.

Sisodia, who switched his seat from Patparganj to Jangpura this year, was the Deputy Chief Minister till 2022. He resigned weeks after being arrested by the ED and the CBI in relation to the excise policy case in 2023.

Referring to the Ram Temple inauguration, Rahul said, “At the Ram Mandir consecration, not a single poor person was present. The richest of the rich were invited, but the President, an Adivasi woman, was not present.”

Rahul alleged that Modi was prioritising interests of powerful billionaires over the welfare of the citizens. “(Industrialist Gautam) Adani gets all the airport contracts. GST money doesn’t go to farmers, small shopowners, or street vendors — it goes to the billionaires,” he claimed.

He criticised policies like the Agnipath scheme, arguing that it stripped soldiers of their pensions while enriching the wealthy. Speaking on unemployment, he told the gathering, “You send your children to college to secure jobs, but in today’s India, even a degree doesn’t guarantee employment. Meanwhile, the children of billionaires can dream and achieve anything.”

In his address, Chaudhary sought to connect with Purvanchali voters of Patparganj by raising slogans of ‘Chatti Maiyya ki jai’.

In Okhla, asking the crowd to vote for the Congress, Rahul reminded them of the party’s 2024 Lok Sabha performance. “No matter who fears Narendra Modi, we will not. He no longer talks about his 56-inch chest because we have exposed the reality behind their claims of 400-paar, we proved them to be false in the Lok Sabha elections.”

The Congress-led INDIA bloc alliance had won 235 seats, of which 99 were won by the Congress in the 2024 polls.

Okhla Congress candidate and MCD councillor Ariba Khan highlighted AAP’s unfulfilled promises and the lack of development in the constituency.

She recited Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s poetry — “Ae khak nashino uth baitho wo waqt kareeb aa gaya hai, jab takht uchale jayenge, jab taj uchale jayenge (O downtrodden, wake up, the time has come when thrones will be toppled, when crowns will fall)”.

The two rallies marked Rahul’s second and third appearances in the Capital’s campaign trail, following his January 13 rally in Seelampur. He had then accused both Modi and Kejriwal of making false promises, drawing parallels between the two leaders. The Seelampur rally had also signaled a shift in Congress’s strategy, with Rahul openly opposing AAP, an INDIA bloc ally, after failed alliance talks for the Assembly elections.

However, Rahul’s campaign was disrupted by ill health in the days that followed. He missed four events, including a January 20 rally alongside Congress candidate Sandeep Dikshit and a January 24 rally in Sadar Bazar.

At the Patparganj rally, people climbed up barricades, chairs, and nearby buildings for a glimpse of Rahul, with chants of ‘Mohar lagega haath pe’ and ‘Button dabega haath pe’ echoing through the air.

In Okhla, residents cheered as Rahul made his way to the stage. After the rally, the streets came alive with celebration as supporters danced and waved Congress posters.