Days after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said her party would not have any alliance with the Congress in the upcoming Madhya Pradesh Assembly poll, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Friday played it down by stating that “alliances in the States and the Centre are different”.
During an interactive session at the Hindustan Times Leadership Summit here, Mr. Gandhi said an alliance with the BSP would have been good, but the Congress would not be affected by Ms. Mayawati’s decision.
“The alliance in the State and the alliance in the Centre are very different ... Mayawatiji has sort of indicated that. We were pretty flexible in the State. In fact, I was more flexible than some of our State leaders. We were in the midst of the conversation, but I guess they decided to go their own way,” he said, when asked about the BSP’s decision to go it alone.
“I don’t see the BSP alliance impacting us much in Madhya Pradesh. We are going to win the election in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh,” he said. However, the Congress chief suggested that parties would come together for the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
“I think in the national elections, parties will come together particularly in Uttar Pradesh,” he said, suggesting that the BSP chief indicated it.
The Congress president avoided an answer to the leadership question by stating that it will be decided after the election. However, when he was asked if he is open to accepting the Prime Minister’s post if allies so desire, he said, “Sure, if they ask me to.”
He launched an all-out attack on the government, and accused it of going to war with its own people in trying to impose one imagination on India.
‘Policy failures’
He criticised demonetisation, the implementation of the GST and the government’s foreign policy, and attacked the RSS for allegedly trying to take over important institutions.
“I don’t think you can develop this country if you think in terms of pro-poor, pro-industry, pro-one segment or another segment. Every single person, every single interest has a role to play and big business has a role to play. You simply cannot bring jobs to India without businesses,” he said, adding that there needs to be a “conversation between every section of society”. Asked what would be his priorities if the Congress was voted to power in 2019, the Congress said, “ I will strengthen the small and medium enterprises. Two, I will make farmers feel they are important and three, I will build a low-cost, high-quality medical and education infrastructure.”