Tamil Nadu Congress Committee president K. S. Alagiri on Saturday said the PM Narendra Modi-led government was trying to come back to power through the backdoor, as the BJP was not confident about facing Congress leader Rahul Gandhi in the 2024 Parliamentary elections.
Speaking to media persons after hoisting the party flag in the presence of Sholingur MLA A. M. Munirathinam, in Mamandur village near Arakkonam town to commemorate Mr. Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, Mr. Alagiri was responding to a question about Mr. Gandhi’s unsuccessful attempt to stay his conviction and two-year sentence in a defamation case at the Gujarat High Court.
“Mr. Modi is scared to contest in the upcoming Parliamentary elections against Congress leader Mr. Rahul Gandhi. Using the defamation case, the BJP wanted to send Mr. Gandhi to prison to avoid a formidable opposition during the elections,” he said.
The TNCC chief was confident that Mr. Gandhi would get cleared in the defamation case soon. Thereafter, he would successfully contest in the Parliamentary elections in 2024 and would become the Prime Minister, he said. The nine years of the BJP government have miserable for people as the prices of essential commodities have risen sharply, he charged.
On the Governor of Tamil Nadu, Mr. Alagiri said he was losing respect among the people in the State over several issues, including issuing statements and then withdrawing them [a reference to Governor R. Ravi’s dismissal of arrested Minister V. Senthilbalaji and his subsequent backtracking] after giving his opinion. “This makes people think that the actions of the Governor are politically motivated,” he said.
