Rahul says prime minister’s post not his obsession
‘I want to change Uttar Pradesh’
A day after his sister Priyanka Gandhi’s remark that he was not after the prime minister’s post, the Congress General Secretary said that unlike other “big” leaders of the country, he was not obsessed with the “top post.”
“All the big leaders of the country have one obsession – to become the prime minister, but it is not Rahul Gandhi’s obsession,” the Congress’s star campaigner said in an interaction with journalists in Varanasi on Monday.
Rahul said that his obsession was to bring about a change in Uttar Pradesh. “Mission 2012 is your (media) line not mine…there will be elections after 2012 also. I want to change UP and I will keep coming here till then,” he said.
He said that it was not his objective to win the elections. Rahul, however, rejected an assertion that his remark signaled that he had already conceded his party’s defeat. “It is not conceding defeat,” he pointed out.
The Congress leader asserted that his party would fare well in the elections. “The election result will be solid for the Congress,” he said adding that his assertion was based on his interaction with the people of the state.
“The people of the state are looking up to the Congress…the people are now getting to understand our message,” he added. “The Congress will stand on its feet in UP….whether it gets two seats or one hundred…I shall keep trying till it stands on its own in the state,” he said.
Rahul lashed out at BSP supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav and termed them insensitive to the problems of the people. “I have great respect for them…but they have stopped listening to the people of the state,” he asserted.
The Congress leader said that the UPA government had cracked down on corrupt elements. “What has the BJP done?,” he asked. He said that the BJP had pledged to support a strong Lokpal Bill but when he (Rahul) spoke of giving it a constitutional status, his party opposed it in the Parliament. “They opposed it because they said it was my idea,” Rahul added.
Rahul also targeted senior BJP leader L K Advani saying that the latter had undertaken ‘rath yatra’ against corruption but his own party’s chief minister in Gujarat has challenged the appointment of Lokayukta there.
He also made it clear that his party would not ally with anyone after the polls and vowed to continue to take up the issues confronting the people of the state.
The Congress General Secretary also blamed “yoga guru” Baba Ramdev for “waving of black flags’ at some of his public meetings in Uttar Pradesh and asserted that he was not scared at all.
“Ramdev sends his four–five supporters with black flags to my meetings…regularly..he thinks Rahul Gandhi will get scared and run away but that will never happen,” Rahul said while speaking to reporters at Varanasi.
“Rahul Gandhi will not be scared…..you show black flags…shoot me or throw shoes at me…I am not scared…I will listen to the people…I have learnt that from my grand mother,” he said.
Rahul’s remarks invited a sharp reaction from the “yoga guru”, who has also been touring different parts of the state mobilizing people against the Congress.
“With what face those, who had looted the country, are seeking votes…these people have sold the country…the disease (looting) is genetic,” Ramdev said in Faizabad.
