Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday expressed confidence that his party will come to power in Madhya Pradesh after the next month’s Assembly elections.
“I have no doubt in my mind that the Congress would definitely win the Assembly elections,” Mr. Gandhi said while addressing a public meeting at the Basheer Dada ground at Rahatgarh in Sagar district.
Referring to Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh’s earlier remarks, Rahul stressed that the party would fight the elections unitedly and all candidates would be nominees of the party and not of any leader.
Mr. Digvijay Singh had earlier said in his remarks that if the Congress was truly united no force could defeat it.
Mr. Gandhi tried to strike an emotional chord with the people by recounting his 2005 visit to Bundelkhand when he had slept in the houses of the poor, shared meals with them and discussed their problems.
He said that despite being bit by mosquitoes and facing an upset stomach, he was not worried as the visit helped him to get a feel of how poor people live in real India. He wished that similarly more and more leaders should visit villages in India.
Mr. Gandhi said after his visit to parts of Bundelkhand in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, he met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and a package of Rs. 4,750 crore was sanctioned for the region.
Mr. Gandhi then asked the people if even one jobless youth had got employment under it, to which the crowd responded with a loud “no”.
Mr. Gandhi said that there was a lot of difference in the kind of politics of Congress and BJP.
Mr. Gandhi hit out at the BJP for “practising politics of the rich and those who use air conditioners” and said that “Congress believes in doing politics for common man”.
He alleged that BJP leaders are not worried about the common people and want to use politics only for personal gain.
Mr. Gandhi said it is the wish of the Congress that sons and grandsons of the poor are also able to travel in planes and cars.
Other leaders who spoke at the rally included Union Ministers Kamal Nath and Jyotiraditya Scindia, Rajya Sabha member Satyavrat Chaturvedi, state Congress president Kantilal Bhuria and Leader of Opposition in state Assembly Ajay Singh.
