Rahul Gandhi draws maths to upset BJP applecart

​Hyderabad: AICC president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday exuded confidence that the Modi-Shah jodi will not succeed in coming back to power in 2019. In an informal interaction with Editors of various media houses, Rahul said the count down for the BJP government has begun since Modi has committed a greater number of mistakes than what the Congress government did in 10 years of its rule.

He said Modi's fate would be sealed in the next election as BSP, SP and Congress are coming together now. "In UP there are 80 Lok Sabha seats and in Bihar there were 40. In the present scenario, even the NDA ally Shiv Sena is also opposing the BJP. Modi would need 230 seats to retain power and if the Congress, SP and BSP could upset the BJP's calculations in the two states, the BJP is as good as finished,” he said.

The AICC president said that once the Congress party comes to power at the Centre and in Telangana, they would lay focus on ensuring better health care and job creation. "China provides employment to 50,000 people in 24 hours while in India only 458 people got employment during this period," he said.

He said that the Congress will also bring petrol and diesel under GST and there would be only one slab. "This is not a difficult task. But the problem is that Modi refuses to listen to Economists," he said, adding that, he, on the other hand, wants to get enlightened by interacting with experts and implement their suggestions.

On whether he was aspiring to become the Prime Minister, he said that issue would be decided after the elections, obviously not wanting to jump the gun at a time when effort is on to cobble up a coalition of anti-BJP parties.

"Our first priority would be to defeat the BJP. The Modi government had driven wedge between communities and made them fight with one another. Media has been gagged and other institutions are muzzled," he said.

Replying to another question on his hugging the Prime Minister in Lok Sabha, Rahul said that from his side the hug was warm but the reaction it had evoked from the prime minister was icy cold. On the allegation that he was following soft Hindutva to appease majority community, he said: "I do not believe in any kind of Hindutva, soft or hard," he said and defended his action in meeting religious leaders and visiting temples.

On Rafale deal, he said that it was finalised during UPA regime at Rs 526 crore. It was to be given to HAL which has vast experience of building fighter aircraft like Sukhoi and MiG. Rafale was to transfer technology to HAL and only this file was to be signed when UPA lost elections and went out of power. But, Modi flew to France with Anil Ambani and then the contract goes to his company. Further the PM says price of aircraft was army's secret.

"How can aircraft which is being purchased with public money be secret? Secondly, France had given the same aircraft to Qatar at much lower price," he said. On Women's Reservation Bill, he said the Congress is committed to passing it. "It was we who brought it. I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, explaining why it is important but he has not responded," he said.

When asked on when he would enter into wedlock, the Congress president Rahul Gandhi brushed it aside with a smile, saying that he was already married but married to the Congress.