By Piyush Babele
Veteran Congress leader and former Union minister Jairam Ramesh believes that there will be only one issue when the parties go for 2019 Lok Sabha elections, and that issue would be Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Speaking exclusively to Zee News Digital, the Congress leader said that opposition parties need to “expose” the alleged “lies” of the Narendra Modi government.
“The 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be based on what happened to the promises made by Narendra Modi. Just like we were the issue in 2014 general elections, there will be just one issue in 2019 – Narendra Modi. It is our job to expose the lies of Narendra Modi government,” said Ramesh.
Ramesh also talked about the changes in the Congress party after Rahul Gandhi took over the reins from his mother and former party president Sonia Gandhi. He pointed that the party leadership has been appointing more young leaders on general secretary and other important posts, adding that it was a long-pending demand of members of the Congress.
He said that the other change that has happened in the working of the party was evident in Karnataka. According to Ramesh, the party did not work on a slow pace like it did in Manipur, Goa or Arunachal Pradesh. He added that the party would have lost Karnataka had it not acted in a swift manner.
“Had the Congress taken decisions like it did previously, we would have lost Karnataka, which is a crucial state for the party in the current situation. The Congress leadership did not just take fast decisions, but also showed a big heart by offering chief ministership to the JDS without any condition. They were also given the Finance portfolio,” said Ramesh.
“All this happened so fast that old Congress members like us did not even feel that it was the same Congress party,” he added.
When asked about the alliance scenario for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Ramesh said that the Congress would ally with Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party, Rashtriya Lok Dal in Uttar
Pradesh, with Rashtriya Janata Dal in Bihar, with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha in Jharkhand, with National Congress Party in Maharashtra. He added that doors were also open for post-poll alliance if needed.
