Finally overcoming the ghost of the interview with Arnab Goswami in 2014, which had disastrous political consequences for Rahul Gandhi, the Congress president gave an interview to a media channel known for harbouring sympathies for Congress.
In an interview with NDTV, Rahul Gandhi reiterated his sister’s earlier stance that Congress has put up candidates across Uttar Pradesh with the singular aim of cutting into BJP votes.
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When asked why the Congress party has fielded candidates across the state of Uttar Pradesh, Rahul Gandhi said, “Our aim is defeat the BJP. The BJP and PM Modi are not coming to power again. Wherever we have strong candidates in UP, we’ll fight for our space. Places where we have weaker candidates, we’ll ensure that the BJP candidate doesn’t win and a secular candidate is elected.”
Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi had earlier stated that Congress has fielded candidates across Uttar Pradesh to cut into BJP votes. However, she quickly backtracked on her statement saying Congress candidates are fielded to defeat BJP.
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi alluded in the interview that Congress’ aim is to defeat BJP candidates in UP, even if it meant supporting SP-BSP alliance candidates in places where Congress candidates won’t fare better. This essentially means that Congress would readily volunteer to get into a post-poll alliance with the Mahagathbandhan to ensure that BJP is defeated in the elections.
In the interview, Rahul Gandhi’s assertions confirmed that his sister’s earlier comment that Congress’ sole purpose of fielding candidates across Uttar Pradesh is to weaken the prospect of BJP in the state.
Apart from this, Rahul Gandhi also ‘guaranteed’ to the NDTV scribe that PM Narendra Modi will not be becoming the Prime Minister once again. He stated that according to the Congress party sources BJP is not forming the government at the centre.