New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi backed the central government’s stance on the Russia-Ukraine conflict Thursday. Speaking at the National Press Club in Washington D.C., Gandhi said, “We have a relationship with Russia. We have had a relationship with Russia. We have certain dependencies on them. So I would have a very similar stance as the Government of India.”
“At the end of the day, we have to also look out for our national interest,” he added, in response to a query on his stance on Russia while speaking at a press conference. Gandhi is on a six-day tour of the US.
Speaking about the Lok Sabha elections next year, Gandhi said he did not agree with the notion that PM Narendra Modi would win another term in 2024 and added that a united Opposition could beat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
When asked why the Congress is allying with parties such as the Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) in Kerala while talking about a secular India, Gandhi said, “Muslim League is a completely secular party. There is nothing non-secular about them. I think the person (who asked the question) hasn’t studied the Muslim League.”
The BJP hit out at Gandhi for this comment with the party’s national IT department chief Amit Malviya tweeting that the Congress leader is “disingenuous and sinister”. “Jinnah’s Muslim League, the party responsible for India’s partition, on religious lines, according to Rahul Gandhi is a ‘secular’ party. Rahul Gandhi, though poorly read, is simply being disingenuous and sinister here. It is also his compulsion to remain acceptable in Wayanad,” said BJP’s Malviya on a video of Gandhi’s statement.
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United Opposition
Gandhi was also asked why the Congress was not supporting Delhi’s Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government against the central government ordinance that creates a new statutory authority to handle transfer and posting of bureaucrats.
AAP has reached out to other parties in its campaign against the ordinance that nullifies the recent Supreme Court decision that the Delhi government has control over the ‘services’. AAP convenor and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has sought time from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and Gandhi to discuss the matter but hasn’t been given an appointment yet.
“That’s an internal discussion we are having. The Opposition is pretty well united and it’s getting more and more united. We are having conversations with all of the Opposition and there’s quite a bit of good work happening there,” he said.
He, however, also conceded that Opposition unity had a lot of complexities. When asked whether he would agree to an Opposition front not led by the Congress, Gandhi said that the decision would be of the party president, Mallikarjun Kharge.
“These are questions to ask Kharge because he’s the decision maker. But I think Congress will do very well in the 2024 elections. There is a hidden undercurrent building and I think we’ll surprise people. I’m not entirely convinced about this idea that Mr. Modi will win the 2024 elections. If you do the math, then a united Opposition can beat the BJP on its own,” he said.
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)
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