Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, on Saturday, claimed that his party would win the 2023 Assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh where there was a strong ”undercurrent” against the BJP.
Addressing a press conference here, Gandhi said, “I can give this in writing that the Congress is going to sweep the Madhya Pradesh elections. The BJP will be seen nowhere. I can guarantee this to you. Every person in MP knows that the BJP formed its government using money.”
He said the fight between the BJP and the Congress was no more a tactical political battle. The Opposition needed a central ideological framework that only the Congress could provide but the grand old party has to make sure that the Opposition parties were comfortable, he added.
“If the Opposition stands effectively with a vision, it will become very difficult for the BJP to win elections. But the Opposition has to coordinate effectively and it has to go to the people with an alternative vision,” Gandhi said.
Spelling out his vision, Gandhi said India should emerge as a “production nation” instead of a “rent-seeking” nation. It should have an education policy that allowed children to give wings to their imagination and look beyond careers in medicine, engineering, civil services and law, he added.
India, he said, needed a clear foreign policy and not a “confused” one being pursued by the government. The Congress was in favour of large businesses as they had a central role in the economy, but the same should not be controlled by “two-three persons”
The Congress leader said that he even considered the BJP his ‘guru” (teacher) as the party showed him a roadmap and taught him ‘what should never be done’.
“I want them (BJP) to attack us aggressively, this will help the Congress party understand its ideology. I consider them (BJP) as my Guru, they are showing me the way and training me on what is not to be done,” Gandhi added.
On his ”Bharat Jodo Yatra”, which entered New Delhi on 24 December and is set to resume on 3 January after a nine-day break, Gandhi said, “When I started this, I just took it as an ordinary yatra from Kanyakumari to Kashmir. Slowly we understood that this yatra has a voice and feelings.”
He said; “The doors of Bharat Jodo Yatra are open for everyone, we are not going to stop anyone from joining us. Akhilesh ji, Mayawati ji and others want ‘Mohabbat ka Hindustan’,” he said in an open invite to the other parties of the Opposition ahead of the 2024 general elections.