NEW DELHI: Exuding confidence that Opposition parties will form the next government at the Centre, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Friday that there is no way regional parties such as TMC, TDP, SP and BSP will lend support to the BJP.
“I do not see people like BSP chief Mayawati, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav supporting the BJP. A secular alliance will win the elections,” he said.
Reiterating his demand for a debate with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the Rafale deal, Rahul said, “Now that the PM is addressing a press meet, why did he not agree to a debate with me on Rafale?”
Rahul also took a jibe at the media saying it asked him tough questions but went soft on the PM. “When you question me, you ask me where the money for the NYAY scheme is coming from but you ask him (Modi) how he likes to eat mangoes!” he remarked.
He said the Congress is blessed with experienced leaders like UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former PM Manmohan Singh.
“I am not Modi, won’t ignore experience. The Congress will benefit from their experience,” he said, without elaborating on the party’s strategy for the post-poll scenario.
He also attacked the Election Commission, saying its role in these polls has been “biased” as it has issued orders keeping in mind Modi’s poll schedule.
He claimed the Congress party has dismantled Modi’s ideology that has worked to “systematically close down every door to stop Narendra Modi from escaping”.
Rahul said his party’s first priority is to make sure the BJP loses; the next priority is to push the Congress ideology.