During a joint press conference with Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed confidence in the opposition INDIA bloc’s prospects in the Lok Sabha elections, predicting that the BJP would be limited to 150 seats. Gandhi stated, “I do not do prediction of seats. 15-20 days ago I was thinking the BJP would win around 180 seats but now I think they will get 150 seats. We are getting reports from every state that we are improving. We have a very strong alliance in Uttar Pradesh and we will perform very well…”
Responding to questions about his candidacy in the general elections from either Amethi or Raebareli, Gandhi deferred the decision to the party’s Central Election Committee (CEC), stating, “This is the BJP’s question; very good. Whatever order I get, I will follow it. In our party, all these (selections of candidates) decisions are taken by the CEC.”
Discussing the party’s manifesto, Gandhi criticized Prime Minister Modi’s policies, highlighting the need to strengthen employment. He mentioned, “The first task is to once again strengthen employment, and for that, we have given 23 ideas in our manifesto. One idea is the revolutionary idea of the right to apprenticeship. We have decided that we will give the right to apprenticeship to all the graduates and diploma holders in Uttar Pradesh. There will be training and we will deposit Rs 1 lakh per year in the bank accounts of the youth and we are giving these rights to crores of youth. We will make a law for paper leaks as well.”
Akhilesh Yadav echoed Gandhi’s sentiments, stating that the INDIA bloc had emerged as a beacon of hope for the people. He emphasized the importance of uplifting farmers and eradicating poverty through policies such as ensuring remunerative prices for agricultural produce.
The Congress is contesting only 17 seats in Uttar Pradesh in alliance with the SP, recalling their failed alliance in the 2017 assembly elections under the banner of “UP ke Ladke,” where the BJP won with a large majority of 325 seats.
Voting in Uttar Pradesh will be conducted in seven phases, with the Ghaziabad seat witnessing a triangular contest between the BJP’s Atul Garg, the INDIA bloc candidate and Congress leader Dolly Sharma, and BSP’s Nand Kishore Pundir.