Congress President Rahul Gandhi on Friday said the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be a straight contest between the BJP and the “entire opposition” and their “first priority” is to defeat the ruling alliance.
He said the issue of leadership will be taken up by opposition parties after the polls.
In an interactive session at the London School of Economics in London, Gandhi also said that debates in Parliament was “low quality” as parliamentarians were not involved in making laws, “which were made by the prime minister, ministers and bureaucrats”.
Gandhi, who was asked questions about the next Lok Sabha elections, said it will be “pretty straightforward” contest between “Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on one side and the entire opposition on the other”.
Gandhi said almost the entire Opposition feel that “systematic attack was taking place on Indian institutions”.
“We are going to have a clear-cut election,” he said, adding that once the arithmetic of Opposition unity comes into play in states like Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, “it becomes very difficult for the BJP to win”.
He said the Opposition was working to defeat an onslaught on the Constitution and to defend the nature of Indian state.
“The first priority is to defeat the BJP. Once election is over all conversation can take place (about the leadership). Not till we defeat the BJP,” he said.
Gandhi said he had over 15 years of experience in politics and has taken his share of shots to the chin.
Referring to the weaknesses of the Congress, Gandhi said the party is not able to express the ideas very effectively.
Today Members of Parliament do not have the power to make laws. Laws are made by the PMO, ministers & bureaucrats. We need to make MPs powerful. We need to give them law making power:Congress President @RahulGandhi#RahulGandhiInLondon #LSERahulGandhi pic.twitter.com/LxJTKWoyMe
— Congress (@INCIndia) August 25, 2018
“The BJP and RSS are very clear in what they are saying. There is no confusion. RSS spends time on an idea. Congress needs to expand and be precise about what it stands for.”
Raking up the issue of the multi-billion Rafale deal in the UK, Gandhi accused the BJP government of changing the contract to benefit an industrialist who was in debt.
During the interaction, Gandhi spoke of alleged corruption in the Rafale deal, accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of favouring a businessman who had no experience in manufacturing aircraft.
Gandhi has been attacking the BJP government for allegedly inking the deal at a much higher price than the one the previous UPA regime had negotiated to benefit “one businessman”.
Facing allegations of getting undue benefits from the multi-billion dollar Rafale deal, Anil Ambani-led Reliance Group has sent legal notices to several Congress leaders asking them to “cease and desist” from levelling such charges.
Gandhi, in response to a question on tackling corruption, said: “Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) has been building aircraft for 70 years… HAL has no debt. HAL has by far the best experience in building aircraft in 70 years”.
Also Read | RSS is similar to Muslim Brotherhood: Rahul Gandhi in UK
“Our government signed a contract with Dassault, and gave the contract to HAL. The price we were paying was approximately 520 crores.
“Then something happened, Prime Minister Modi went to France, changed the contract from 126 planes to 36 planes, changed the pricing structure from 520 crores to 1,600 crores and magically, Mr Anil Ambani was given the contract,” Gandhi said.
The Congress president alleged that “Mr Anil Ambani is Rs 45,000 crore in debt”.
“Mr Anil Ambani has never made a plane in his life, and the company that got the contract, one of the biggest defence contracts in the world, was formed one week before, luckily this is absolutely amazing. So that’s the interesting question about corruption,” Gandhi said.
Reliance Group has denied the allegations relating to the deal under which France’s Dassault is supplying the fighter jets and has entered into a joint venture with an Anil Ambani-led group firm to meet its offset requirement of the contract.
Ambani recently wrote to Gandhi on the deal saying his party has been “misinformed, misdirected and misled” by “malicious vested interests and corporate rivals” on the issue.
(With inputs from agencies)