Congress‘ eagerness to project its President Rahul Gandhi as the Prime Ministerial candidate for the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections seems to be subsided for now.
After the CWC meeting held on Sunday, Congress had strongly cleared its stance and said that Gandhi will be the face for the PM in the general elections. The party in its first meeting of reconstituted CWC which was headed by its President Rahul Gandhi also cleared that Congress is open to forging alliances.
Mayawati had earlier stated that she will only be tempted to form an alliance with “any party” if there is “respectable” seat-sharing. Several other parties which can join Congress like Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress have their own party leaders for projecting as the prime ministerial face.
Congress, after such declarations, has softened in the matter. According to sources, as reported by The Indian Express, Congress’ main aim would be to “defeat the RSS-backed BJP” in the 2019 general elections. It is planning to achieve this target by bringing “all the Opposition parties together”.
The source also confirmed that the party will not assert on announcing Gandhi as ‘the prime ministerial candidate for the Opposition alliance’. The source commented, “We will bring all the Opposition parties together. Let us get together to defeat BJP. That is important as of now. Let us see how the dice rolls (post elections)”, reported The Indian Express.
The source also said, “Without any disrespect, hatred or anger, we are going to get the Opposition parties together”. They added, “India cannot be run when it is divided. It is a fantasy of Narendra Modi and Mohan Bhagwat that they can win by dividing the country. You are going to see the complete decimation of the BJP.”