Rahul calls EC a ‘biased umpire’, vows to defeat BJP in Guj polls

Calling the Election Commission a “biased umpire”, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi blamed it for the party’s electoral defeats. He also asserted that the Congress needed to defeat the BJP in Gujarat.

He made these remarks while addressing presidents of the District Congress Committees at a camp under the campaign to strengthen the party’s organisation on Saturday.

“In cricket, if you get out time and again, you can start doubting yourself. But then you realise you are getting out not because of your fault. It is the umpire who is biased. Rahul said this and gave us confidence. He asserted we lost the 2017 Gujarat polls due to the EC’s dubious voters’ list,” said Congress leader Naushad Solanki.

Eyeing the Gujarat Assembly elections in 2027, Gandhi urged the DCC heads to raise issues concerning the public and build party’s base. The former Congress chief also gave them an assurance that their views would be considered in the selection of candidates during the state polls.

The party has 12 MLAs in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly. It is holding a camp for DCCs in Anand district to build a strategic road map for the state elections

Gujarat seems to be a priority for Rahul Gandhi. “If we can defeat the BJP in Gujarat, then the party can be defeated everywhere,” another Congress leader quoted Rahul.

He also met members of various cooperative milk unions or dairies, who recently held protests over the issue of milk procurement prices.

The LoP further said the country was becoming like a temple where everybody could come and pray, but the BJP and the RSS were controlling who gets what as “prasad”, he added.

(With inputs from PTI)