Cong will form grand alliance of Opposition parties for 2019 polls, says Rahul Gandhi in Mumbai

It’s not just political sentiment, people too are against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Congress president Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday, adding that the Congress would take it forward by forming a grand alliance of Opposition parties for the 2019 elections.

Gandhi, who addressed the media in Mumbai before leaving for Chandrapur, however, avoided responding to questions regarding the prime ministerial candidate of this grand alliance.

“The PM and the BJP have been attacking the Indian Constitution and the country’s institutions constantly. The Congress will act against it,” he said while speaking at MCA Club in Bandra-Kurla Complex.

Criticising the BJP over rising inflation and taxation, Gandhi said: “The BJP government is working for the interests of 15-20 rich people in the country.”

The government has turned down the Congress’ demand to bring petrol and diesel under GST, he added. “Despite a huge fall in the prices of crude oil [globally], petrol and diesel prices are high. The common man in Mumbai and across the country is at the receiving end. Direct Benefit Transfer has been activated for a handful of rich people and the poor are suffering.”

From Mumbai, Gandhi is flying to Chandrapur district to visit the family of late Dadaji Khobragade, an award-winning agriculturist who revolutionised rice farming. He will fly to Nagpur and take a chopper from there to Nanded village, where the Khobragades live. Later, he is scheduled to address a farmers’ ‘chaupal’ (village meeting) there before flying back to Delhi in the evening.