Ready to be Prime Minister if Congress emerges as single largest party: Rahul Gandhi
Bengaluru: Rahul Gandhi today made it clear that he was ready to become Prime Minister if the Congress party emerged as the single largest party in the 2019 national election.
At a gathering of prominent citizens in Bengaluru, an outreach organised in the last few days of campaigning for the May 12 elections in Karnataka, the Congress President was asked whether he could become Prime Minister.
"I am pretty convinced that Mr Modi is not going to be prime minister. I can see it in his face. He knows it," he said in reply to a question.
"Will you become prime minister?" the questioner asked.
"Well it depends... it depends on how well the Congress party does. If the Congress party is the biggest party, yes," he responded.
If the Congress acted as a "platform" (with other parties in a coalition), the BJP didn't stand a chance of winning the elections, he said, stressing on opposition unity.
"It is highly unlikely that BJP will form the next government, and the second part is that it is close to impossible that Modi will be the next prime minister," he added.
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Cong's countrywide protest on Wednesday against VB-G RAM-G bill replacing MGNREGA
New Delhi (PTI): The Congress will hold protests across the country on Wednesday against the Centre's rural employment bill VB-G RAM G that seeks to replace MGNREGA, claiming it was a "BJP-RSS conspiracy" to dismantle a rights-based welfare scheme and attack Mahatma Gandhi's legacy, workers' rights and federal responsibility.
The opposition party's general secretary, organisation, K C Venugopal, in a letter to all state Congress presidents, urged them to organise protests at all district headquarters.
These protests must be held with portraits of Mahatma Gandhi, symbolising resistance to the erasure of his name and values, and highlight how the proposed law will impact the crores of beneficiaries of MGNREGA, he said in the letter.
"The combined attack on Gandhiji's legacy, workers' rights and federal responsibility exposes a larger BJP-RSS conspiracy to dismantle rights-based welfare and replace it with charity controlled from the Centre," Venugopal said.
The opposition has strongly objected to the introduction of the Viksit Bharat Guarantee for Rozgar and Ajeevika Mission (Gramin) (VB-G RAM G) Bill, 2025, when it was introduced in the Lok Sabha by Union Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Tuesday.
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The Congress and other opposition MPs also staged a protest in Parliament House complex over the Centre's move.
In the letter to the Congress state unit chief, Venugopal said that on December 28, the party's Foundation Day, programmes should be organised at all blocks and villages, with Mahatma Gandhi's portraits, reaffirming the party's commitment to the dignity of labour, social justice and the right to work.
"This is both a political and moral struggle. The Congress must lead from the front to defend MGNREGA, Gandhiji's legacy and the constitutional promise of justice for the poorest," Venugopal said in a post on X.
In his letter, he said the BJP government has taken an alarming and deliberate step by introducing a bill to repeal the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA).
"This is not a routine legislative exercise. It is a calculated political move to weaken a historical, rights-based people's law and to erase Mahatma Gandhi's name and values from India's most recognisable welfare legislation.
"This combined attack on Gandhiji's legacy, rights and federal responsibility exposes a larger BJP-RSS conspiracy to dismantle rights-based welfare and replace it with charity controlled from the Centre," he noted.
