BENGALURU: Former AICC president Rahul Gandhi has adequately proved his leadership, and Congress workers would like him to lead the country, said party general secretary in charge of Karnataka Randeep Singh Surjewala.
“As far as the leader is concerned, as a worker of the Congress, I can say Rahul Gandhi has adequately proved his leadership... (based on) his compassion, his connect with the people, his capacity for hardwork, and his ideology and commitment to the cause of the common people. Of course, it will depend on numbers, but every Congress worker would like him to lead the country,” Surjewala told The New Indian Express.
While BJP banks heavily on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Congress or its I.N.D.I.A bloc has not projected its prime ministerial face. However, the party’s manifesto for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls has images of AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul.
“The country needs a sensitive, sensible, compassionate, and people-loving person as Prime Minister,” said Surjewala, who is campaigning in Karnataka. On the reason for not projecting the party’s PM face, the Congress leader said they believe in a unitary command theatre with everybody falling in line. “One person, only one voice in the entire country, One Nation One Election, et cetera don’t work,” he said.
On BJP’s argument that Rahul contesting from Wayanad and not from Amethi as an indication of accepting defeat, the Congress leader said such an argument is anti-India and against the ethos of this country. “This argument being raised by parochial forces out to divide the country into multiple shades of regionalism, language, caste, religion and identities,” he said, adding that whether the sitting Wayanad MP will fight for a second seat or not, will be decided by Kharge and the Central Election Committee.
The Congress leader said the guarantees announced by the party were well-thought-out. “People are owners of the state and the country. They are the biggest gods or temples, if I may say as a believer. If they are not participants, partners, and owners of any government, then you will cease to be a welfare state,” he said, explaining the party’s vision.
The AICC general secretary said there is an upsurge amongst the people for the Congress, which cuts across castes, religions, and regions. “In Karnataka, the Congress will easily get over 20 seats, considering the overwhelming support and affection which is much beyond expectations,” he added.
Asked if the Lok Sabha poll results have any bearing on the state government’s stability, the Congress leader said after the election and the stupendous results that they expect, BJP and JDS would crumble under their own weight. He reminded the BJP that during the Rajya Sabha polls, its MLAs did not vote for the party.
