Janakrosh rally to highlight problems during BJP rule, says Anugrah Narayan

After being appointed as the in-charge for party affairs in Uttarakhand, Congress leader Anugrah Narayan Singh feels his party has a chance to come to power in the next year’s general elections. In a conversation with HT, Singh said BJP has been losing ground too fast. Excerpts:  

Why is the Janakrosh rally being held after 4 years of BJP rule?

This is the first big rally of Rahul Gandhi after becoming the president of the Congress party and is very significant. We waited for 4 years of the BJP rule, as now the people know very well about their functioning and can also judge which promises have been kept and which haven’t. The good performance by the Congress in Gujarat has shown that the people have become wary of the false promises of the BJP and the ‘jumlebaaji’ of Prime Minister Modi. The Janakrosh rally will be the precursor to the establishment of the Congress government at Centre in 2019.

The Congress governments were accused of corruption. What do you say about it?

The BJP has been saying that the Congress did nothing in 60 years of rule. The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is preparing a booklet in which it will give details of the developmental works done in the past 60 years. Congress might have been accused of corruption, but the present government is way ahead. We want the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) to look into the Rafale Aircraft deal. The present government had made deal for 126 aircraft at the cost of ₹570 crore each. But now the cost has gone up to ₹1,570 crore for each (aircraft). The government has created a hullaballoo in the name of national security and threat from Pakistan and all sorts of weapons are being purchased at higher prices.

The Congress has suffered defeat in assembly elections. What is the way forward?

After the defeat, the Congress activists are back to work and know that the time is ripe, as the BJP government has been committing follies after other. Demonetisation and GST have led to harassment of the common people and traders and there is too much anger against the BJP. We have an opportunity at hand in the coming local body elections in Uttarakand. We are hopeful that we would be winning the local body polls and this would have a bearing on the morale of the Congress workers. The results would have an impact on the central government and show the anger against it.