Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 9 (PTI) Hailing Rahul Gandhi as a dogged “fighter,” Keralam Chief Minister V D Satheesan on Friday said the Congress party leader is the opposition’s “only option” to be the prime ministerial candidate in the 2029 general elections against PM Narendra Modi.
In an exclusive interview with PTI Videos, he also said the agitation being led by Gandhi against Chief Election Commissioner will be “marked in the history of India” as a turning point that changed the course of the country’s politics.
“He is a fighter. When he is having a conviction, he will fight like anything…. Now, the entire people (of India) believe in Rahul ji. The intelligentsia, press and coalition partners believe in Rahul Gandhi,” the Congress chief minister said.
Asked whether it would be difficult to convince the opposition INIDA bloc and others outside the bloc to accept Gandhi as prime ministerial candidate, Satheesan said: “Definitely, they will accept. All the coalition partners will rally behind him, because he is the only leader who can change this government.”
“No doubt, there is no other option before these parties. This is the only option,” he said. This is the first statement by a prominent Congress leader after Gandhi started an agitation against the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, and also the first leader to link it to Gandhi’s prime ministerial ambitions with such conviction.
Satheesan was in New Delhi earlier this week when Rahul was briefly detained along with his sister Priyanka while leading a protest march to seek the resignation of the CEC for alleged irregularities in the SIR process.
He was also waiting outside the police station when Gandhi was released.
“It was a proud moment for me to participate in that fight, agitation, led by Rahul ji. I believe that this agitation will be marked in the history of India.”
Asked if he thought that if the ongoing agitation is a turning point in the history of India, he said “the fight to retain the democracy, it will be recorded in the history. Indian democracy will survive all these things.”
When Gandhi initially raised the issue of SIR and made allegations against the Election Commission and the Union government about election manipulations, everybody thought it was a lamentation of a loser, he said.
But he had conviction and collected data “and he fought like anything,” said Satheesan. “Now everybody is convinced that there are malpractices in the election, in the election roll and SIR,” he said.
The government and the EC have vehemently denied any wrongdoing, and have said everything was done legally.
Satheesan said Gandhi “can rally all the coalition partners against this Fascist government.”
Asked if he can take on Prime Minister Modi’s popularity and charisma, Satheesan said: “Of course he can. He can. He can do it. People believe in him now because he’s sincere, honest (and has) no other interest. He is talking sense.”
Asked what he meant by “no other interest,” Satheesan said “You know that almost all the politicians have many other interests. (Gandhi) has no other interests except to fight against this government, to expose this government.” PTI VJ LGK TGB SA
This report is auto-generated from PTI news service. ThePrint holds no responsibility for its content.