'First we need to win polls,' says Congress chief Kharge on INDIA bloc’s PM choice

Bengaluru, April 16

Accusing Prime Minister Narendra Modi of seeking to divide the country on the lines of caste, religion, creed, Congress president M Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday called him the “real Sultan of tukde tukde gang”.

Modi was already charting programmes for next five years calling all secretaries, he alleged, claiming that “this kind of over-confidence and arrogance is not good for the country and democracy”.

“First we need to win the elections”, Kharge said, as he asserted that who will be INDIA bloc’s prime ministerial face is a matter to be settled only after the results of the Lok Sabha polls are declared.

“The real Sultan of the tukde tukde gang is Modi. He is dividing a country on the lines of caste, religion, creed. We strongly believe that every region and part is India, be it Kashmir, north-east. We have fought for these regions. We have fought for the freedom of this country. What has BJP done?” Kharge said in an interview.

Stating that in a coalition, consensus is drawn through discussions and deliberations, Kharge said the INDIA alliance will discuss as to who is the suitable person to lead it once the results are out.

“…who will be the prime minister, that will be a matter to be settled only after the results. First we need to win the elections and then depending on what the alliance partner says there (will be) discussions. Congress party has never been shy about (it), first, we need to win elections,” he added.

Regarding Congress candidates for Nehru-Gandhi family bastions of Amethi and Raebareli, he said elections there will be held in the later stages and “so still there is time”.

“Let us see what will happen. We will tell at an appropriate time. It is not good to open my cards. In politics, it is important to have some surprises. We will discuss, we will deliberate and we will take feedback. There is a democratic process in the Congress party and in the due course we will take a call. It is not like BPP where Modi has the final say for everything,” he said.

Expressing confidence about defeating BJP by stating that whatever number needed to defeat BJP, the Congress and its alliance partners will get, Kharge said after the party won Assembly elections in Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh, things are looking “positive and good”.