Cong will defeat Modi in next polls: Sonia

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has said the party was certain to displace the Narendra Modi-led NDA government in the next Parliamentary elections.

She said in a television interview that her party would rise from its dismal performance in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections because “in politics, you win and you lose. You come up in power, you go down. It is part of life”.

Her remarks came in the backdrop of the Congress mounting an aggressive campaign against the Modi government on the demonetisation issue, which many party leaders think has the potential to hit Modi’s image.

“I think it is absolutely possible. We will come up from 44 seats to the seats needed to strengthen the party,” Sonia said in an interview to the India Today channel.

Sonia said it was for Rahul Gandhi to take forward the legacy of Indira Gandhi. She, however, refrained from answering questions about Rahul becoming the Congress president. “I am not the person to decide or reply,” she said.

She dismissed the criticism that dynastic rule was sought to be perpetuated by his ascent to the top. “I see and understand that people look at it that way. But, just as in a family of doctors or a family of professors or business, one of the family members will choose the same path as their father. But in politics, there is a difference. You are elected and defeated democratically,” Gandhi said.

The Congress president dismissed any comparison between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Indira Gandhi on the basis of their style of functioning. “Absolutely not. I have my clear views, there is no comparison,” she said.

Sonia said the Congress would continue fighting for its ideals of secularism. “We will keep fighting. Indira Gandhi was written off, she fought back, we will fight too,” she said.