Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, in an exclusive interview to Priya Sahgal, said that the mood of the people is to ‘Remove Modi’. That’s why he’s saying all sorts of things now… ‘naachne wale, gaane wale, mujre wale,’ cows, bulls, ‘mangal sutra’ — all this he’s saying out of frustration. The people have made up their minds, even if they are not saying it openly.
Q: In which states you think the Congress will make a difference… Talking about your state Karna taka… where will the biggest shock for the BJP come? Which state?
A: Earlier we had only one seat in Karnataka. Whether that will increase or decrease, you tell me fairly. Naturally, we’ll increase our seats. Telangana, we had only two seats. This time we will increase7-8 seats at the minimum. Of course, Andhra is a different story. I don’t want to talk about exact numbers or anything, but our vote share will increase there.
Q: Kerala?
A: Kerala yes, we are a 100% sure…
Q: You’ll hold… there’s no scope to increase, but you’ll hold in Kerala. You won’t lose…
A: No we’ll not lose, but what he (Modi) wants is… at least 1 or 2 seats he is trying to get in Kera la. That is not going to help him and the people of Kerala are very intelligent people. There’s effectively a two party system in Kerala, either Communist led government or Congress led government. Therefore Kerala is also ours. Now coming to Maharashtra, there we had only 1 seat as well. This time, together, all three par ties, we are going to win 20-25 seats. More than 25 seats. Then if you come to Chhattisgarh, minimum we’ll get 4-5. Then Madhya Pradesh, we will get 4-5 seats…
Q: That much? BJP is very confident about Madhya Pradesh…
A: Well all seats cannot go to them, that’s why I’m saying 4-5…
Q: Last time nearly all went to them…
A: That’s why we are saying this. There are some good seats, at least 4 will come to us. Maximum we will get 6-7 seats. Then you come to Haryana. We are going to sweep Haryana. Punjab, we are fighting well, and BJP won’t get any seats there. Exceptionally, I can’t say, but mostly, the Congress Party is now ahead of other parties
Q: Rajasthan?
A: Rajasthan we are getting 5-6 seats. Then again, in Himachal we will get 2-3 seats. In Uttarakhand, we are getting 2 seats. Everywhere, our Alliance partners are getting more seats. If we are gaining, then he has to lose. Of course, in Odisha also, we had 1 seat. This time we may get 3-4 seats. So like this, everywhere, party is getting more seats, and based on that I can say ours is the best performance and the Alliance is gaining everywhere. Modi can say anything, he can say ‘600 paar’, but unfortunately the total number of MPs is limited to 543; and beyond that nobody can claim, but he claims that.
Q: How do you see the I.N.D.I.A campaign? What did you like about it and what did you not like?
A: See the question of ‘not liking’ doesn’t arise. When we are together, there will be give and take. Some space we have to give, some space they have to concede. Without ‘give and take’ we can’t move. So we are together, the I.N.D.I.A Bloc partners, fighting unitedly. Somewhere we are giving, somewhere they have left (seats). So therefore there is no problem with seat sharing adjustment. And there are one or two seats where there will be heartburn, because where we are very strong we don’t want to leave. They also claim that Congress can support their candidates. That’s why we have accommodated CPI, CPIML, everyone. That’s why the Grand Alliance is very strong.
Q: Sir it’s very interesting, where the BJP will lose is because of its al lies. Nitish is not doing very good, in Maharashtra the allies are not doing well, except for Chandra babu Naidu… It’s pretty ironic in a way…
A: The TDP was built originally on NT Rama Rao’s ideology. He supported backward classes, weaker sections, tribal people. That’s why he emerged as a good leader, that too fighting against the Congress. Congress at that time brought so many reforms, and NT Rama Rao also did good things. But today, that party is not true to that ideology, only power. Going with BJP, what will you do for backward classes, minorities? He (Naidu) is only doing this for power. (To be continued)