NEW DELHI: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said there was a huge undercurrent against the BJP across the country and urged the opposition to unite to present an alternative vision to the people.
Addressing a press conference here, Gandhi said the Bharat Jodo Yatra provided a framework to present a new way of working and thinking to the people.
Gandhi also sought mutual respect between opposition leaders and the Congress in taking on the BJP, which has been completely dominating the country's political space.
"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 the opposition has to go to the people with an alternative vision," he said.
"There is a huge undercurrent against the BJP. Massive undercurrent," the former Congress president said.
"This is no longer a tactical political fight. That era is over, where one group came together and to defeat the BJP. India's institutional framework is now controlled by one ideology. They are dominating India's political space completely," he said.
"You need to have an ideology to defeat them. I have a lot of respect for the opposition. I like them a lot. But, I wish to tell them... that only the Congress can provide a central ideological framework. That is our role," he added.
"But, our role is also to ensure that the opposition feels comfortable and they are respected. There has to be mutual respect...they should extend it to us, we should also reciprocate," Gandhi said.
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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.
He also spoke about a clear foreign policy, unlike a "confused" policy pursued by the government, and greater economic equality.
Gandhi said he 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."
He said he considered the RSS/BJP as his "guru" and they constantly show him the path that should not be done. "The more they attack us, it gives us a greater opportunity to improve ourselves," Gandhi said.