BJP will be destroyed in next 3-4 assembly elections: Rahul Gandhi
Washington, June 2 (PTI) Rahul Gandhi, who said he will “destroy” the BJP in the next 3-4 assembly elections, asserted that they have the basic requirements to defeat the non-existent ruling party. Support of majority of Indian people.
Gandhi, who is in the US for a three-city US tour, made the remarks at a reception hosted by prominent Indian-American Frank Islam on Thursday.
“There is a tendency for people to believe that this kind of vigilance by RSS and BJP cannot be stopped. This is not the case. I will make a small prediction here. You will see us lose the next three or four elections where we will directly compete with the BJP,” Gandhi said in response to a question at the reception.
“I give you now that they will have a very tough time in these assembly elections. We will do the same to them as we did in Karnataka. But if you listen to the Indian media, it will not happen,” he said.
The Congress ousted the BJP from power by winning a majority in the Karnataka assembly elections held on May 10.
The visiting leader told an invited group of Indian Americans, think tanks and lawmakers that the Indian press was currently giving a very favorable version of the BJP.
“Please realize that 60 per cent people of India did not vote for BJP and did not vote for Narendra Modi. Something you should remember. The BJP has the shrill tools at hand so they can shout, shout, distort, shout and they are very good at it. But they don’t have the majority of the Indian population (to support them),” he said.
Responding to another question, Gandhi said he was confident that the Congress could defeat the BJP.
Assembly elections in five states — Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizoram — will be held later this year, setting the stage for crucial general elections in 2024.
“Rebuilding the democratic architecture is not an easy task. It will be difficult. It will take time. But we are confident that we have the basic requirements to defeat the BJP,” the 52-year-old former Congress leader said.
“You will hear from the media that Modi cannot be defeated. Many of them are exaggerated. Modi is indeed very vulnerable. There is massive unemployment in the country, prices are skyrocketing in the country, these things in India are pinching people very, very quickly and very hard,” he said.
“But it’s a very interesting time for me to see how this process works. I never imagined that democracy is being attacked like this. This is the method of attacking democracy. It’s very good for me,” he said in response to a question on MP disqualification.
The Wayanad (Kerala) Member of Parliament was disqualified from the Lok Sabha earlier this year after being convicted by a Surat court in 2019 in a criminal defamation case.
“These are good things for me because they teach me and they crystallize what I want to do and how I want to do it. Thank you all for your support, love and affection. Especially seeing that there are so many people who are willing to come to America and fight for Indian democracy and security. , it means a lot to me,” he said. PTI LKJ AMS AKJ AMS