- Rahul Gandhi is in the US for a three-city US tour and was interacting with journalists at the National Press Club in Washington.
- Rahul Gandhi expressed confidence in a united opposition’s potential to remove the BJP from power after the 2024 national elections.
- He predicted that the outcome of the 2024 general elections will ‘surprise’ people and expressed confidence about the strength of a united opposition.
- On losing his Parliament membership over his conviction in a defamation case, Rahul Gandhi said it was “an advantage” for him.
- He also said he wasn’t concerned about threats to his life and that can’t be the reason for backing down.
- On weakening press and religious freedom in India, Gandhi accused the Narendra Modi-led BJP government of ‘capturing democratic institutions of the country.’
- Mr. Gandhi’s US tour comes weeks ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit later this month.
Rahul Gandhi, who is currently on a US tour, was interacting with journalists at the National Press Club in Washington.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed confidence in a united opposition’s potential to remove the BJP from power after next year’s national elections. Rahul Gandhi predicted that the outcome of the 2024 general elections will ‘surprise’ people and expressed confidence about the strength of a united opposition.
Gandhi, who is in the US for a three-city US tour, said, “I think the Congress party will do very well in the next two years…there is a hidden undercurrent building…Just do the math, a united opposition will defeat the BJP on its own.”
“The opposition is pretty well united. We are having conversations with all the Opposition parties. I think quite a lot of good work is happening there. It’s a complicated discussion because there are spaces where we are competing with the Opposition. So, a bit of give and take is required, but I am confident that a grand Opposition alliance will happen,” he added.
The Congress leader opened up on losing his Parliament membership over his conviction in a defamation case, saying it was “an advantage” for him. While claiming that his disqualification from Parliament has offered him a bigger political opportunity than he had earlier, Gandhi said that when he joined politics in 2004, he never imagined this to happen.
He also said he wasn’t concerned about threats to his life and that can’t be the reason for backing down. His grandmother Indira Gandhi was assassinated by her bodyguards in 1984 while his father Rajiv Gandhi was killed in a suicide attack in 1991. Both were former prime ministers.
On weakening press and religious freedom in India, Gandhi accused the Narendra Modi-led BJP government of ‘capturing democratic institutions of the country’ and imposing a ‘clampdown’ on the critical framework that allowed India to talk.
Mr. Gandhi’s US tour comes weeks ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s state visit later this month. The Congress leader’s six-day visit will also cover San Francisco, Washington DC, and New York.
(With inputs from agencies)
