NEW DELHI: On his first visit to Rae Bareli after the Lok Sabha elections, Senior Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday commented that had his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra contested from Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi would have lost by 2-3 lakh votes.
Addressing a thanksgiving meeting, Gandhi said that the people of Uttar Pradesh have changed the political narrative and shown the way for the country. “The people of Uttar Pradesh voted against hatred, arrogance and lies,” said Gandhi.
“We all saw how PM Modi bowed before the Constitution. The people of UP have made him do it. The public sent a message to the PM that if you touch the Constitution, we will teach you a lesson. This is only the beginning,” he said.
Rahul Gandhi won Rae Bareli seat by a margin of 3.9 lakh votes over his BJP rival Dinesh Pratap Singh. Though Gandhi also won the Wayanad seat, he is yet to announce his final choice of seat. He will visit Wayanad on Wednesday.
The former Congress chief said that INDIA bloc parties fought the election unitedly in Rae Bareli, Amethi and other parts of the country to weaken the BJP-led NDA in Parliament.
Rahul Gandhi also extended gratitude to the Samajwadi Party for their cooperation during the campaign. “I want to tell the Samajwadi Party that every single worker of your party cooperated with the Congress in the fight,” he said. “Earlier alliances used to happen, but there were always complaints of non-cooperation. But this time, all the allies everywhere across the country fought in cooperation. It happened because the country realised that Modi and Amit Shah were trying to tamper with the Constitution,” he said.
The Congress leader accused Modi of ignoring the common people during the Ram temple inauguration. “Not a single Adivasi, Dalit or poor person was invited, but you saw top industrialists and celebrities from Bollywood and cricket there. Even the President of India wasn’t invited. But the people gave a reply by defeating the BJP in Ayodhya seat,” said Gandhi, adding that if Priyanka Gandhi contested from Varanasi, Modi would have lost by 2-3 lakh votes.
“In Varanasi, Modi just scraped through in the polls. People have given a clear message to the PM that we want them to address burning issues of unemployment and inflation,” he said.
Ladakh MP backs Cong
Haji Hanifa Jan, the independent MP from Ladakh and a National Conference rebel, is in talks with the Congress and INDIA bloc leaders. He has offered support to the bloc if it backs the four-point demand of Ladakh parties, including statehood and 6th Schedule status to the UT. He met the Congress president in New Delhi on Tuesday.