With general elections just around the corner, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday turned to his preferred foe Congress, making the grand old party the centrepiece of his attack in his last full-fledged speech in Lok Sabha before the polls. The framing was all too familiar, from finding fault from Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira Gandhi and lampooning Rahul Gandhi who is the embattled Opposition party’s last and constant hope.

It was as if Modi wanted the Lok Sabha elections to be framed as a battle between the BJP and the Congress, a political rival he has convincingly defeated twice in parliamentary elections and in countless state polls since 2014. The BJP has struggled to defeat regional parties in state elections — an exception being the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh — but has managed to trounce the Congress with ease. The BJP hence perceives the Congress as the weakest link in the alliance.

The Prime Minister’s political attack was sharp, not necessarily fresh. What stood out was his conscious omission of regional parties, most of them the BJP’s rivals. He hardly named any but focused all his jibes, barbs, and attacks at the Congress. He called the Nehru-Gandhi family a “shahi parivar (royal family)” without, of course, naming Rahul Gandhi, accused the Congress of trying to relaunch the same “product” again and again, and came down heavily on dynastic politics.

In an apparent response to Gandhi’s oft-repeated phrase “mohabbat ki dukaan (shop of love)”, Modi said the Congress “shop” was facing closure because of its proclivity to launch the “same product again and again”. He did make a veiled mention of the INDIA alliance but again with a veiled jibe at Rahul. “Kuch din pehle Bhanumati ka kunba joda … phir ekla chalo re karne lag gaye (They cobbled together a coalition a few days ago, but now are walking alone). The Congress people have learnt the job of a motor mechanic. So, they must have learnt about alignment. But I am seeing that the alignment of the alliance has deteriorated (bigad gaya),” he said.

The PM was seemingly referring to Rahul’s visit to a bike mechanic shop in Karol Bagh last year. “The Congress got stuck with one family. They could never see and would never be able to see people’s aspirations and achievements. The Congress never trusted India’s potential. They always considered themselves rulers and belittled people,” he said.

But why this sharp attack on the Congress? Congress leaders said the Prime Minister perhaps wants to project the party as his main challenger although the ruling party is up against regional parties in some states. They were surprised by the fact that Modi did not focus much on the INDIA alliance. Speaking in the House in August last year, he called the bloc a “ghamandia (arrogant)” alliance in which “everyone wants to be the groom”.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge posted on X, “The Prime Minister cannot sleep without mentioning the name of Congress. He spoke about nepotism, our leaders have sacrificed their lives for the country. I want to ask Modi ji, who from your party or your political ancestors sacrificed their lives for India’s freedom, unity, and integrity?”

“It was virtually his Lok Sabha poll campaign launch speech. And it was clear that he wanted to reinforce the Congress-BJP binary, the UPA-NDA binary. He mentioned the corruption charges faced by the UPA government … he talked about (Jawaharlal) Nehru, Indira Gandhi, and the Congress’s so-called treatment of social justice icon Karpoori Thakur because we are talking so much about caste census and OBC representation. It is clear that he wants to frame the election as a contest between the Congress and the BJP,” said a Congress leader.

“In a national election, people still see the Congress as the challenger to the BJP. While some states may be an exception, it will largely be a battle between the two sides. So he has to demolish the Congress and its leadership, especially Rahul,” said another leader, pointing out that the Congress and the BJP would be in a direct fight in nearly 200 seats in the Hindi heartland and a state such as Gujarat.

“The Prime Minister kept on attacking and criticising the Congress. He has proved that he is scared of the Congress. He spoke about 370 seats for the BJP and 400-plus seats for the NDA … Despite such bravado, he somehow seems to feel that the Congress alone can challenge the BJP. It was an out-and-out electoral speech. The sanctity of the President’s address and the debate on it required a dignified response. It was not to be,” said Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

Another Congress leader, however, argued that the PM’s speeches had always reflected the clash of two ideas that began in 1947. “The two ideas represented by the Congress and the RSS. It has always been there and will continue to play out. The Sangh could never forgive Nehru for turning India into a secular state unlike Islamic Pakistan after Partition … and that bitterness always flows. The opposing idea to that is offered, it can be argued, with little electoral success by only the Congress,” he said.