Cong must make non-BJP parties feel respected: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul said he is sure that Opposition leaders are with the Congress though some of them are not joining the yatra due to 'political compulsions'

Insisting that Congress needs to make non-BJP parties "comfortable and feel respected", senior leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said a united Opposition will have to present an "alternative vision" to reap the "massive undercurrent" against the BJP in 2024 and just going to people without a programme will not help.

He refused to make much of non-participation of leaders like Samajwadi Party's Akhilesh Yadav and BSP's Mayawati in Bharat Jodo Yatra, saying there could be "political compulsions" but emphasised that they all are on same page and share a relationship, as they all are for a "hate-free India".

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Addressing a press conference at Congress headquarters here on the New Year eve, Rahul sought to project unity in purpose among Opposition parties, as he sought to play down criticism from Akhilesh that Congress and BJP are similar. He was also confident that the Congress will sweep the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections.

Asked about the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, he said it is "becoming very difficult" for the BJP to win the polls from what he is hearing and seeing from the ground. For this, his prescription was the Opposition standing with a vision.

"Just going to people is not enough. The Opposition has to coordinate properly and the Opposition has to go to the people with an alternative vision against the BJP. There is a huge undercurrent, a massive undercurrent against the BJP," he said.

The vision, according to Rahul, include India emerging as a "production nation" instead of a "rent-seeking" nation, which should have a "clear foreign policy and not a confused one" as well as an an education policy that allowed children to give wings to their imagination and look beyond careers in medicine, engineering, civil services and law.

On Yadav's allegation that Congress and BJP are similar, Rahul said it is obvious that the BJP and Congress are ideologically different and if it was so, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will not talk about 'Congress-mukt Bharat' (Congress-free India).

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"Akhileshji also has his space. He has his perspective. Our perspective is that we have to fight the BJP ideology. One thing is clear now that this is not a tactical political fight anymore as the institutional framework is now in the hands of one ideology, which is dominating India's political space. To defeat that, we need a national ideology," he said.

Emphasising that he respects the Opposition parties and its leaders, Rahul, however, said parties like Samajwadi Party cannot give a pan-Indian ideological framework and only Congress can do that. "SP's idea will not work in Kerala, Karnataka or Bihar. We need a central ideology. That is our (Congress) role. Our role is also that other Opposition parties feel comfortable and they are respected. There should be mutual respect," he said.

He said he is sure that Opposition leaders are with the Congress though some of them are not joining the yatra due to "political compulsions".

"I do not want to comment on why people are coming or not coming. I only want to say that yatra's doors are open for those who want to unite the country...I know that Akhileshji, Mayawatiji want a hate-free India. We have a relationship with them and that is to fight against hatred," he added.

Asked whether he would welcome BJP MP Varun Gandhi, who is also his cousin, to the yatra, Rahul said he is welcome to the yatra but he is with BJP and that would be a problem for him if he joined.